Cumulonimbus flammagenitus (cloud) column of a volcano. In 2002, various sensing instruments detected 17 distinct cumulonimbus flammageniti in North America alone. Alternate spellings and abbreviations for cumulonimbus flammagenitus that may be found in the literature include Cb-Fg, pyrocumulonimbus, pyro-cumulonimbus, pyroCb, pyro-Cb, pyrocb, and pyro-cb. The World Meteorological Organization does not recognize the cumulonimbus flammagenitus as a distinct cloud type, but instead classifies it simply as cumulonimbus. On 18 January 2003, a supercell thunderstorm formed from a cumulonimbus flammagenitus cloud associated with a severe wildfire, during the 2003 Canberra bushfires in Canberra, Australia. The supercell resulted in a large fire tornado, rated at EF3
Cloud forest contribution to the hydrologic cycle. Due to the high water content of the soil, the reduced solar radiation and the low rates of decomposition and mineralization, the soil acidity is very high, with more humus and peat often forming the upper soil layer. Stadtmüller (1987) distinguishes two general types of tropical montane cloud forests: Although far from being universally accepted as true cloud forests, several forests in temperate regions have strong similarities with tropical cloud forests. The term is further confused by occasional reference to cloud forests in tropical countries as "temperate" due to the cooler climate associated with these