Thunderstorms
Warm Up Write in 3-5 sentences the conditions and qualities of a thunderstorm from your own experience. (When do you see them occur, why do you think they occur, etc)
What is a thunderstorm? J Warm, moist air rises into cold air Water vapor condenses Forms cumulonimbus clouds Presence of lightning, thunder, and rain Possible tornadoes and hail J
Life Cycle of A Thunderstorm Cell Precipitation becomes heavy enough to fall through the updraft and reach the ground. This creates a downdraft. Air rises and a cumulus cloud forms. This is called updraft. Prevents precipitation from reaching the ground. Downdraft weakens the updraft, which cuts off the supply of moist air to the cloud. The cloud evaporates. J
Lighting J The rising moisture and cold temperatures freeze Frozen part becomes negatively charged Unfrozen parts become positively charged Charges have an electric field, conductive path allows it to reach earth J
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Thunder J Rapid heating of the air by the lightning As well as rapid cooling Sound waves are created There is never thunder without lightning J
Categorization of Thunderstorms
Ordinary Thunderstorms Common thunderstorms last up to an hour Rain and possible small hail clouds up to 12 km high E
Severe Thunderstorms Very dangerous Hail the size of baseballs Strong winds Intense rain, Tornadoes Can last many hours Clouds up to 18 km high. E
Types of Thunderstorms
Single Cell Thunderstorms Rare Occur randomly Lasts for no more than 30 minutes Ordinary Difficult to predict E
Multi-Cell Cluster Thunderstorms Most common type of thunderstorms Lasts a few hours Produce hail Generates weak tornadoes E
Multi Cell Line Thunderstorms Line of thunderstorms that contribute to each other Weak tornadoes Hail the size of golf balls Early detection and prediction is possible E
Super-Cell Thunderstorms Greatest threat to life and property Strong to violent tornadoes Rare occurrence http://dsc.discovery.com/tv-shows/storm-chasers/videos/supercell-sighted.htm E
MOISTURE RAPIDLY RISING WARM AIR V
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Why do you think that thunderstorms occur in certain areas/certain times? What is the relationship between thunderstorms and location? V
Why in the summer? V
Thunderstorm Picture Links http://www.xweather.org/images/thunderstorm3.jpg http://blog.emergencyoutdoors.com/tala/uploads/2012/07/severe-thunderstorm-01.jpg http://wx4cast.blogspot.com/2011_05_01_archive.html http://www.windows2universe.org/earth/Atmosphere/images/cumulonimbus5_small.jpg http://icons-ak.wunderground.com/data/wximagenew/c/CameraDiva/914-800.jpg