Cumulonimbus incus

Cumulonimbus incus
Cumulonimbus capillatus incus
Abbreviation	Cb inc.
Genus	Cumulonimbus (heap, cloud/severe rain)
Species	Incus (anvil)
Classification	Family D (Vertically developed)
Appearance	Large flat-top cloud
Precipitation cloud?	Yes, often intense

A cumulonimbus incus (Latin incus, "anvil") is a cumulonimbus cloud which has reached the level of stratospheric stability and has formed the characteristic flat, anvil-top shape. They can form into supercells resulting in severe storm phenomena such as tornadoes.

A cumulonimbus incus is a sub-form of cumulonimbus capillatus.

Hazards

A cumulonimbus incus is a mature thunderstorm cloud and can produce many dangerous elements.

• Lightning; this storm cloud is capable of producing bursts of cloud to ground lightning.

• Hail; hailstones may fall from this cloud.

• Heavy rain; the cloud may drop several inches of rain in a short amount of time. This could cause flash flooding

• Strong wind; gale force winds from a downburst may occur under this cloud.

Classification

This is a powerful cumulonimbus cloud. If the correct atmospheric conditions are met, they can grow into a supercell storm. This cloud may be a single-cell storm or it may be one cell in a multi-cell storm. They are capable of producing severe storm conditions for a short amount of time.

• 

  Anvil Cumulonimbus incus, February 2007

• 

  Cumulonimbus incus

• 

  Cumulonimbus incus with little precipitation observed

• 

  Cumulonimbus incus over Africa, viewed from space, 2008

• 

  Single-cell Cumulonimbus incus - Mykonos / Greece, June 2009