1. Top Ten Severe Weather Tidbits January 2010

2. Tidbit #10  The severe thunderstorms which produce tornadoes form where cold dry polar air meets warm moist tropical air. This is most common in a section of the United States called Tornado Alley  Formation of tornado video

3. Tidbit #9  The wind from a tornado can be very violent and very unpredictable

4. Tidbit #8  Some people make a profession out of tornado chasing

5. Tidbit #7  The best place to seek safety from a tornado is in a well-built structure and/or in a low spot such as a ditch  Some people have found safety from a tornado under a bridge, although areas under bridges can act as wind tunnels  Tornado Video

6. Tidbit #6  If atmospheric conditions are favorable, many tornadoes can occur in a short period of time  During the 1974 Super Outbreak 140 tornadoes dropped out of the sky over 2 days

7. Tidbit #5  Meteorologists can identify a possible tornado by using Doppler RADAR.  A Hook Echo is produced by rain, hail, or even debris being wrapped around the supercell

8. Tidbit #4  The storm surge from hurricanes can cause massive damage

9. Tidbit #3  When the storm surge from a hurricane washes as far inland as it will do, the water must return to the sea, taking with it debris and sometimes people  After Hurricane Mitch hit Honduras in 1998, Laura Isabel Arriola de Guity, a teacher, reportedly drifted on a makeshift raft in the Caribbean for six days before she was rescued.

10. Tidbit #2  Large hail forms when water is repeatedly frozen and lifted into the atmosphere by strong updrafts in thunderstorms  Hail can kill farm animals and/or humans and cause massive amounts of property damage

11. Tidbit #1  Lightning kills more people every year than hurricanes and tornadoes combined.  Lightning strikes somewhere on the surface of the earth about 100 times every second  Lightning comes in different forms, including cloud-to-cloud, cloud-to-ground, cloud-up, and ball lightning  A lot of people aren’t aware that lightning can occur in snow storms

12.  Cloud to Cloud Lightning

13.  Cloud to Ground Lightning

14.  Cloud Up Lightning (Sprite)

15.  Cloud Up Lightning (Elf)

16.  Ball Lightning