‘At first they were just clouds, like any other.
Then they swelled and swirled; then they hung very still;
then they broke open.’
An excerpt from the poem ‘Clouds’, published in the collection Why I Wake Early (2004) by Pulitzer Prize-winning poet Mary Oliver.
A line of Cumulonimbus clouds advances along the horizon with an arcus cloud feature visible to the lower left spotted over Sidmouth, England by Keith Knight (Member 19,524). An arcus is a protruding ridge of cloud along the leading base of a storm, created as cool outflow air lifts warmer air ahead of it. It often signals approaching heavy showers.
