&philcUK

gallery

This shuttle astronaut photograph shows a series of mature thunderstorms located near the Parana River in southern Brazil. With abundant warm temperatures and moisture-laden air in the Amazon, large thunderstorms are commonplace. A number of overshooting tops and anvil clouds are visible at the tops of the clouds. Storms of this magnitude can drop large amounts of rainfall in a short period of time, causing flash floods.

Credit: NASA/ IDS/Earth Science Enterprise.