CUMULONIMBUS BY TRISTAN B.

Cumulonimbus (Cb) is a towering vertical cloud (family D2) that is very tall, dense, and involved in thunderstorms and other inclement weather. Cumulonimbus originates from Latin: Cumulus "heap" and nimbus "cloud". It is a result of atmospheric instability. These clouds can form alone, in clusters, or along a cold front in a squall line. They can create lightning and other dangerous severe weather. Cumulonimbus clouds form from cumulus clouds (namely from cumulus congestus) and can further develop into a supercell, a severe thunderstorm with special features.

I have gone from a Los Angeleno that could not fathom rain in the midst of the summer swelter, to someone that is regularly in the eye of the summertime storm. On Saturday we had guests over for dinner for the first time at our new country abode.  My husband wanted to wait until we had furniture but it's been slow going in the furniture department so I convinced him that it would be fun to have a picnic in our huge (bug-filled) backyard. We told our guests to bring their own blankets (and bug repellent), which they thankfully did.  The day was  gorgeous, not too humid and as it rolled into early evening we even had a slight cool breeze. We played frisbee and grilled chicken for what my husband has deemed 'our best meal', which is actually just chicken burritos. Then we heard the thunder, but it was still bright and beautiful outside we were hopeful that it would pass. The first droplets of rain fell, but they were delicate and sparse, it could still pass we thought, but then the sky darkened and the cumulonimbus clouds became dense, hiding the sun and having all our guests scurry inside. Just when I was ready to start wagging my fists at Mother Nature and shouting 'why, oh, why?' I had my answer, Mother Nature obviously knew I was lacking good new photos for this here blog and she was right.  We laid picnic blankets in our empty livingroom and had my husband's 'best meal', accompanied by some of the most amazing chips, guacamole and salsa (yes, I fell off the chips and gauc wagon for the evening). It even made our two year old guest Charlie remark with an enthusiastic, "Yum, yum!' after his first bite.  I had no problem picnic'ing on the floor and it seemed like our guests didn't mind much either and to top off a near perfect evening the electricity only went out once!