WALKER - As thunderstorms grew tall across the capital area Wednesday afternoon, Sawyer Delatte captured a neat-looking feature to the northeast of Walker.

Courtesy: Sawyer Delatte

Above the towering thunderstorm cloud, otherwise known as a cumulonimbus cloud, there are several umbrella-like layers on top of each other. These are known as pileus clouds, or a cap cloud.

Thunderstorms are kept alive by rising currents of warm, moist air - an updraft. As updrafts surge upward, they push on the air above it. Pileus clouds form when that "push" is quick enough where the overlying air rapidly cools and forms a cloud.

While not uncommon, they tend to be short-lived which can make them difficult to spot.

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