photo #6694951

Following a long month without rain, Ido Goldstein (Member 62,503) watched the rainy season arrive in Thailand in the form of an arcus cloud feature ahead of a Cumulonimbus storm system rolling in over Rawai Beach, Phuket, in the country’s south-west. An arcus is the vanguard of a storm, a long horizontal shelf that spans the front base of the cloud. It usually precedes high winds and heavy downpours, so an arcus is one of the most portentous of all cloud features. But some storm showers are welcome, particularly after extended dry periods, and Ido’s arcus gleamed pink in the evening light as if to show that it came in peace.