1. Severe Weather

2. Severe Thunderstorms
Cold fronts normally are associated with low pressure systems that carry plenty of cold air with them
This normally causes the atmosphere to become unstable
As instability increases, the strength of the updrafts and downdrafts intensify
Supercells are extremely powerful t-storms that form under these conditions

3. Lightning
lightning is electricity caused by the rapid rush of air in a storm cloud
lightning bolt heats the surrounding air to about 30,000 degrees Celsius
this is about 5 times hotter then the sun
thunder is caused by this heated air expanding and contracting

4. The Fury of Wind
violent downdrafts that are concentrated in a local area are called downbursts
these can happen in a violent storm
these can either be microbursts or macroburts depending on the amount of damage

5. Hail hail is precipitation in the forms of balls or lumps of ice
hail forms because of 2 characteristics
supercooled water droplets encounter ice pellets and fall to Earth
ice pellets are caught in alternating updrafts and downdrafts
Savanah Hailstorm Hail1 ..\Hail.asf

6. Floods
floods are normally caused when the upper level winds moving a storm are weak and an abundance of rain falls over an area over a long period of time
the ground cannot absorb the water as fast and this will cause floods to occur

7. Tornadoes
a tornado is a violent, whirling column of air in contact with the ground
before there is a tornado, there is a funnel cloud
a tornado forms when the spin speed and direction change suddenly with height
Tornado Development Tornado2 Andover Tornado

9. Tornado Distribution
most tornadoes form in the late afternoon to early evening
they form when 2 air masses of different temp. differences meet

13. Tornado Safety
in the US, an average of 80 deaths and 1500 injuries result from tornadoes