Aracá State Park, State of Amazonas, Brazil, 2019
Over the Amazon rainforest, rare is the day when you can see a clear sheet of blue sky or a solid blanket of gray cloud. Rather cloud formations offer an ever-changing spectacle. This begins in the morning when warm moist air rises from the jungle and makes contact with minuscule particles which permit the vapor to condense into water droplets and become little clouds resembling cotton balls known locally as aru. As the day advances, they rise and join forces and, temperature and wind speed permitting, gather strength to become a storm cloud known as a cumulonimbus. This is quite the most dangerous meteorological formation, reaching several ...