Amazing Thunderstorm Smoke Inflow Photo

This photo from April 11th was uploaded today by AccuWeather.com Photo Gallery user Regg001. What you're looking at here is a thunderstorm in Kermit, Texas (see map below), drawing smoke from a fire (that *it* caused with lightning) up through what's referred to as the storm's "inflow" (you can read more about inflow and see inflow cloud bands here).

I'm not sure if the lighter vertical object in the foreground is a rain shaft, a cloud, or different colored smoke. What do you think? Leave me a Comment below. It reminds me of the famous Delaware Waterspout picture so I've added the tag "vertical."

What could this intake of smoke do to the storm? I think most meteorologists would say "not sure." On the one hand, raindrops form around small particles (called nuclei) such as smoke or dust, but both can also dry the air, inhibiting storm strength.

The U.S. Drought Monitor says that the Kermit area is experiencing a Moderate Drought, so lightning-started fires are probably not uncommon.