Towering cumulus clouds

are among the many things that pilots learn about in ground school, mainly because of their potential involvement in the formation of thunderstorms. There was a thunderstorm watch this afternoon, and on the way home from work I was looking at the most towering of all towering cumulus clouds that I've ever seen.

No storms materialized, however.

Before I learned to fly, I would have just said "Holy shit that's a big cloud."