In this view of the Baja California peninsula, Mexico, photographed by astronaut Karen Nyberg from the International Space Station, two distinct cloud formations are on display. At the top of the image, the Mexican mainland is studded with tall Cumulonimbus and Cumulus congestus storm clouds. Powered by convection as the Sun-warmed ground heats the air above, these storm clouds develop on strong thermals of rising air. At the bottom of the image, an extensive layer of marine Stratocumulus stretches beyond the coast of the peninsula into the Pacific Ocean. The cloudlets of this low layer formed when warm easterly winds blowing off the interior met cooler air over the Ocean. 

NASA/JPL – Karen Nyberg