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Thunderstorm

A thunderstorm, also known as an electrical storm or a lightning storm, is a storm characterized by the presence of lightning[1] and its acoustic effect on the Earth's atmosphere, known as thunder.[2] Relatively weak thunderstorms are sometimes called thundershowers.[3] Thunderstorms occur in a type of cloud known as a cumulonimbus.[4] They are usually accompanied by strong winds[1] and often produce heavy rain[1] and sometimes snow, sleet, or hail,[1] but some thunderstorms produce little precipitation or no precipitation at all. Thunderstorms may line up in a series or become a rainband, known as a squall line. Strong or severe thunderstorms include some of the most dangerous weather phenomena, including large hail, strong winds, and tornadoes. Some of the most persistent severe thunderstorms, known as supercells, rotate as do cyclones. While most thunderstorms move with the mean wind flow through the layer of the troposphere that they occupy, vertical wind shear sometimes causes a deviation in their course at a right angle to the wind shear direction.

"Electrical storm" and "TSTM" redirect here. For other uses, see Electrical storm (disambiguation). For the musical ensemble, see Thirty Seconds to Mars.

Thunderstorm

Primarily tropical and also temperate regions.

Most common in spring and summer. (in temperate regions)
Common in wet season. (in tropical regions)

Depends on the storm, may involve rain, hail, and/or high winds. May cause flooding or fires.

Thunderstorms result from the rapid upward movement of warm, moist air, sometimes along a front.[5] However, some kind of cloud forcing, whether it is a front, shortwave trough, or another system is needed for the air to rapidly accelerate upward. As the warm, moist air moves upward, it cools, condenses,[5] and forms a cumulonimbus cloud that can reach heights of over 20 kilometres (12 mi). As the rising air reaches its dew point temperature, water vapor condenses into water droplets or ice, reducing pressure locally within the thunderstorm cell. Any precipitation falls the long distance through the clouds towards the Earth's surface. As the droplets fall, they collide with other droplets and become larger. The falling droplets create a downdraft as it pulls cold air with it, and this cold air spreads out at the Earth's surface, occasionally causing strong winds that are commonly associated with thunderstorms.


Thunderstorms can form and develop in any geographic location but most frequently within the mid-latitude, where warm, moist air from tropical latitudes collides with cooler air from polar latitudes.[6] Thunderstorms are responsible for the development and formation of many severe weather phenomena, which can be potentially hazardous. Damage that results from thunderstorms is mainly inflicted by downburst winds, large hailstones, and flash flooding caused by heavy precipitation. Stronger thunderstorm cells are capable of producing tornadoes and waterspouts.


There are three types of thunderstorms: single-cell, multi-cell, and supercell.[7] Supercell thunderstorms are the strongest and most severe.[7] Mesoscale convective systems formed by favorable vertical wind shear within the tropics and subtropics can be responsible for the development of hurricanes. Dry thunderstorms, with no precipitation, can cause the outbreak of wildfires from the heat generated from the cloud-to-ground lightning that accompanies them. Several means are used to study thunderstorms: weather radar, weather stations, and video photography. Past civilizations held various myths concerning thunderstorms and their development as late as the 18th century. Beyond the Earth's atmosphere, thunderstorms have also been observed on the planets of Jupiter, Saturn, Neptune, and, probably, Venus.

Mythology and religion

Thunderstorms strongly influenced many early civilizations. Greeks believed that they were battles waged by Zeus, who hurled lightning bolts forged by Hephaestus. Some American Indian tribes associated thunderstorms with the Thunderbird, who they believed was a servant of the Great Spirit. The Norse considered thunderstorms to occur when Thor went to fight Jötnar, with the thunder and lightning being the effect of his strikes with the hammer Mjölnir. Hinduism recognizes Indra as the god of rain and thunderstorms. Christian doctrine accepts that fierce storms are the work of God. These ideas were still within the mainstream as late as the 18th century.[106]


Martin Luther was out walking when a thunderstorm began, causing him to pray to God for being saved and promising to become a monk.[107]

Outside of Earth

Thunderstorms, evidenced by flashes of lightning, on Jupiter have been detected and are associated with clouds where water may exist as both a liquid and ice, suggesting a mechanism similar to that on Earth. (Water is a polar molecule that can carry a charge, so it is capable of creating the charge separation needed to produce lightning).[108] These electrical discharges can be up to a thousand times more powerful than lightning on the Earth.[109] The water clouds can form thunderstorms driven by the heat rising from the interior.[110] The clouds of Venus may also be capable of producing lightning; some observations suggest that the lightning rate is at least half of that on Earth.[111]

Barber's pole

Continuous gusts

Convective storm detection

Hector (cloud)

and Severe thunderstorm watch

Severe thunderstorm warning

Thundersnow

Tornado warning

Tornado watch

Training (meteorology)

Burgess, D. W., R. J. Donaldson Jr., and P. R. Desrochers, 1993: Tornado detection and warning by radar. The Tornado: Its Structure, Dynamics, Prediction, and Hazards, Geophys. Monogr., No. 79, , 203–221.

American Geophysical Union

Corfidi, S. F., 1998: Forecasting MCS mode and motion. Preprints 19th Conf. on Severe Local Storms, , Minneapolis, Minnesota, pp. 626–629.

American Meteorological Society

Davies J. M. (2004). . Weather Forecast. 19 (4): 714–726. Bibcode:2004WtFor..19..714D. doi:10.1175/1520-0434(2004)019<0714:eocala>2.0.co;2.

"Estimations of CIN and LFC associated with tornadic and nontornadic supercells"

Davies, J. M., and R. H. Johns, 1993: Some wind and instability parameters associated with strong and violent tornadoes. Part I: Helicity and mean shear magnitudes. The Tornado: Its Structure, Dynamics, Prediction, and Hazards (C. Church et al., Eds.), Geophysical Monograph 79, American Geophysical Union, 573–582.

David, C. L. 1973: An objective of estimating the probability of severe thunderstorms. Preprint Eight conference of Severe Local Storms. , Colorado, American Meteorological Society, 223–225.

Denver

Doswell, C.A. III; Baker, D. V.; Liles, C. A. (2002). . Weather Forecast. 17: 937–954. doi:10.1175/1520-0434(2002)017<0937:ronmff>2.0.co;2.

"Recognition of negative factors for severe weather potential: A case study"

Doswell, C.A., III, S.J. Weiss and R.H. Johns (1993): Tornado forecasting: A review. The Tornado: Its Structure, Dynamics, Prediction, and Hazards (C. Church et al., Eds), Geophys. Monogr. No. 79, American Geophysical Union, 557–571.

Johns, R. H., J. M. Davies, and P. W. Leftwich, 1993: Some wind and instability parameters associated with strong and violent tornadoes. Part II: Variations in the combinations of wind and instability parameters. The Tornado: Its Structure, Dynamics, Prediction and Hazards, Geophys. Mongr., No. 79, American Geophysical Union, 583–590.

Evans, Jeffry S.,: Examination of Derecho Environments Using Proximity Soundings.

NOAA.gov

J. V. Iribarne and W.L. Godson, Atmospheric Thermodynamics, published by D. Reidel Publishing Company, , the Netherlands, 1973

Dordrecht

M. K. Yau and R. R. Rogers, Short Course in Cloud Physics, Third Edition, published by Butterworth-Heinemann, 1 January 1989,  9780750632157 ISBN 0-7506-3215-1

ISBN

Archived 18 February 2006 at the Wayback Machine

Anatomy of a thunderstorm

Electronic Journal of Severe Storms Meteorology