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
Cyclogenesis cloud. The wall cloud is a spinning layer of clouds descending from the mesocyclone. The wall cloud tends to form closer to the center of the mesocyclone. It should be noted the wall clouds do not necessarily need a mesocyclone to form and do not always rotate. As the wall cloud descends, a funnel-shaped cloud may form at its center. This is the first stage of tornado formation. The presence of a mesocyclone is believed to be a key factor in the formation of the strong tornadoes associated with severe thunderstorms. Tornadoes exist on the microscale or low end of