This photograph, acquired in February 1984 by an astronaut aboard the doomed Space Shuttle Challenger, shows a series of mature thunderstorms located near the Parana River in southern Brazil. With abundant warm temperatures and moisture-laden air in this part of Brazil, large thunderstorms are commonplace. A number of overshooting tops and anvil clouds are visible at the tops of the clouds. Storms of this magnitude can drop large amounts of rainfall in a short period of time, causing flash floods.
<a href="//commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/NASA" title="NASA">NASA</a>
1984-02
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