When thunderstorm are mentioned, a large gray mass of clouds with an anvil shape immediately comes to mind, and most people never give it a second thought. Thunderstorms form because of the rapid upward movement of warm, moist air (2010, Thunderstorm). Depending on the severity of the storm there can be anything from several inches of rain to hail, and in some severe cases even tornadoes. Thunderstorms can be classified as a single-cell, multi-cell, or super-cell, with super-cells being the most severe of the three. Because of the large amounts of rain that can accompany a thunderstorm, they are also responsible for secondary disasters like flash flooding.
The first type of thunderstorm is a single cell storm which is nothing more than an updraft and a downdraft working together to create weather. Single-cell thunderstorms usually pop up out of the blue and only last for a short period of time. Because of the short life span associated with this type of storm they are sometime referred to as a “pulse storm” (1998, Texas weather network). Single cell storms are usually not well formed and happen at random times, which makes them hard to forecast when and where severe weather will occur (n.d., Singlecell Thunderstorms). While a single cell storm only lasts for a short period of time, they are still capable of producing severe weather. Due to the unpredictability of these types of storms the microburst threat to aviation is very serious (n.d., Singlecell Thunderstorms).
The next type of thunderstorm is a multicell storm, which is nothing more than what the name implies multiple cells working together to create a storm front. Several of these updrafts and downdrafts work together in close proximity to create what is called a mu...
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(n.d.). Single cell Thunderstorms, Retrieved July 11, 2020, from http://ww2010.atmos.uiuc.edu
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(2010, July 4). Supercell. Retrieved July 21, 2010, from http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Supercell
(n.d.). Supercell Thunderstorms. Retrieved July 21, 2010, from http://ww2010.atmos.uiuc.edu
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Thunderstorm
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Appears in Preprints, 18 th AMS Conf. Severe Local Storms (San Francisco, CA), 19-23 February 1996, Amer. Meteor. Soc., 471-473. Typos and other minor problems have been fixed in this Web version.
Supercells tend to be the least common but have the potential to be the most severe. Supercells are isolated from other thunderstorms and can impact area weather from as far away as 32 miles. A squall line is a thunderstorm that forms alongside of a cold front. The squall line contains heavy precipitation, hail, constant lightning, strong straight-line winds, and potentially tornadoes. Strong straight-line winds usually occur when the squall line is in the shape of a bow echo (Wikipedia, 2014). The bow echoes develop within the summer months are commonly known as derechos.
The technique of imagery is the strongest technique Bradbury uses in his text, “ The sounds of Thunder”. Here we can see images in our head what is happening, and we can also smell it. We can smell what he is talking about because we all have probably smelled something nasty before and when we read the text, it reminded us of that scent. It is very important for authors to add imagery because it helps the reader imagine what is happening, therefore, he or she put themselves in the characters shoes and that gives them a better sense of the
Tornadoes form from wind shears. Wind shears form from warm air that is found at ground level; when it’s raised, the updraft meets a down draft of cooler air that is moved in the opposite direction of the warm air. When both are pushed towards the Earth, this creates wind shear. A spinning tube of air, created from wind shear; tilts upward into a vertical position, as the updraft sucks up moisture from the ground and into the sky. As the warm air cools high in the sky; this produces condensation. The condensation then produces thunderclouds, which rise to 30,000+ feet. The spinning formations of air are then trapped and lifted into the thundercloud. This begins as swirling motion and as continued (if the winds remained viable), a supercell will form. Mesocyclones as they are known are a rotating cloud. If these rotating clouds run into humid air it will spi...
Tornadoes, also called twisters or cyclones, are a localized, violently destructive windstorm occurring over land, and characterized by a long, funnel-shaped cloud extending toward the ground and made visible by condensation and debris. They come in many different shapes and sizes, but are typical in a funnel formation, where the narrow end makes contact with the earth. Most don’t reach winds over 110 miles per hour (177 km/h) or have a path wider than 250 feet (76m), and most only travel a few miles on ground before dissipating. Although, some can reach winds as high as 300 miles per hour (483 km/h) or higher, have a path that can be as wide as two miles (3.2 km) or more, and can travel for dozens of miles on the ground before dissipating.
As evening approached, several thunderstorms began to take on the characteristics of a supercell thunderstorm. Supercells, which are intense, broadly rotating thunderstorms, are the most v...
2. The USA Today Tornado Information site also indicates that there are three key conditions for thunderstorms to form.
When passing through the northeastern United States tropical cyclones are restructured by the course of extratropical transition. This is caused by the contact with strong westerlies that are associated with a mid latitude trough and causes an enhance in storm forward motion, vertical wind shear, and vorticity. An increase in storm forward motion also plays a role in the wind speed that is produced by the hurricane. Where the circulating winds and the entire storm is moving in a matching direction, the wind speed is amplified by the forward movement of the storm. In the Northern Hemisphere, the right part of a hurricane, looking in the way of the path in which it is moving forward, has the greater wind speeds and thus is the more dangerous part of the storm. Strong vertical wind shear within the troposphere also reduces tropical cyclone development. This makes the e...
A tornado occurs in very powerful thunderstorms, and usually it occurs in a super cell. A super cell is a type of storm that already has rotation inside of it, called a mesocycle. A tornado begins to form when a downdraft of air pulls the mesocycle down towards the ground. A funnel begins to form, and when the funnel cloud finally touches down, it officially becomes a tornado. As warm, moist air (the fuel of a tornado) is drawn into the tornado, it matures...
An ordinary-single cell is the most common, but multicell and supercells are responsible for the severe thunderstorms. The ordinary single-cell thunderstorms are short lived with three stages: the cumulus, the mature, and the dissipating stages. In the last stage, it eliminates the upward supply of high humidity air needed to maintain a thunderstorm. On the other hand, multicell storms are composed of severe individual single-cell storms that can make storms last for several hours. There is dense, cold air of the downdraft that forms the gust front which forms new cells. Then, groups of these thunderstorms tend to join into larger systems referred to as mesoscale convective
Steiger, Scott M., Robert Hamilton, Jason Keeler, and Richard E. Orville. "Lake-Effect Thunderstorms in the Lower Great Lakes." Journal of Applied Meteorology and Climatology 48.5 (2009): 889-902. Print.
Many scientists often find themselves wondering if the tri-state tornado was really a single massive tornado or if it was part of a family of tornadoes that continuously evolve from one supercell to another. Only one factor stands in the way of this theory and that is a cyclical supercell usually has breaks in its destructive path. The tri-state tornado's path of damage appeared to be continuous despite two slight decreases in the destruction. One of which was near the onset of the storm, and one near the demise. No matter which is believed, one thing is for certain, and that is a storm like the tri-state tornado could very well happen again, but there is no telling when or where it may occur.
Another startling sighting - and certainly one of the most detailed and scientifically credible - comes from Professor Roger Jennison (Department of Electronics, University of Kent) concerning his experiences on board a late-night flight from New York to Washington in March 1963. He later wrote of his experiences in the November 1969 issue of Nature. Jennison states that the phenomenon occurred after the aircraft encountered a thunderstorm in which it was enveloped by a bright and audible electrical discharge. Some seconds later a glowing sphere some 20cm in diameter emerged from the pilot's cabin and passed down the aircraft's central aisle approximately 50cm from Jennison. The ball moved on a straight course the whole length of the aisle 75cm above the floor at a velocity relative to the aircraft of about 1.5 ms-1. It was blue-white in colour and its optical output amounted to about 5 to 10 Watts. Interestingly, no heat was felt when it passed close by and the limb darkening (like that of the Sun) gave it an almost solid appearance, indicating that it was optically opaque. No asymmetry could be seen in any dimension so it was impossible to determine whether or not it was spinning.
A hurricane is a type of natural disaster that can be harmful and destructive to anything in its way. Every year five to six hurricanes are formed, damaging and destroying people’s homes, landmarks, and anything in its path (“Hurricane”). Before a hurricane is developed it is known as a tropical storm. To be a tropical storm wind speed must be at least thirty eight miles per hour (“Hurricane”). Once wind speeds reaches seventy four miles an hour it can then be classified as hurricane (“Hurricane”). Large scale storms, like hurricanes have a variety of ways to measure the sev...