Thunderhead Anvils Of Earth Onto Southern Borneo. Playing Cards

August 5, 2014 - Late afternoon sunlight casts long shadows from thunderhead anvils down onto southern Borneo. Near the horizon (image top centre), more than 1000 kilometres away from the space station, storm formation is assisted by air currents rising over the central mountains of Borneo. Winds usually blow in different directions at different altitudes. At the time of this photo, high-altitude winds were clearly sweeping the tops off the many tallest thunderclouds, generating long anvils of diffuse cirrus plumes that trail south. At lower levels of the atmosphere, streets of white dots, fair-weather cumulus clouds, are aligned with west-moving winds. Small smoke plumes from forest fires in Borneo are also aligned west.