One tool that I think is worth mentioning is the "selective color" tool, located under Image>Adjustments.
I took your original pic and did the following steps:
-Smart sharpen
-Auto levels/contrast/color
-Levels
-Hue/Saturation
-Selective Color
-Reduce Noise
It helps define the clouds. I find this to be the best tool in combination with Leveling. I selected Cyan and Blue and decreased the black values and it really brought out the detail in the sky after it was washed out from leveling.
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Past: '15 Mustang GT|401A|PP|6MT
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