Thunderstorms

Thunderstorms are known for their heavy rains and

lightning. In strong thunderstorms, hail and high winds are
also likely. Thunderstorms are very common. Worldwide,
there are about 14 million of them each year! In the United
States they are most commonand strongestin the
Midwest. A mature thunderstorm produces gusty winds,
lightning, heavy rain, and hail. Thunder is a sound caused
Word Bank:
by lightning. All thunderstorms produce lightning that is
Mature- fully developed; full
dangerous. If you hear the sound of thunder, then you are in
grown
danger of lightning.
Hail- solid form of precipitation;
ice clumps

Thunderstorms form when the ground is really hot. The air near the ground becomes very warm and
humid. This is true in some locations in late afternoon or early evening in spring and summer. The
warm air rises rapidly, which creates strong updrafts. When the rising air cools, its water vapor
condenses. The updrafts create tall cumulonimbus clouds. Winds blow the cloud top sideways. This
makes the well-known anvil shape of a cloud known as a thunderhead. Water droplets and ice fly up
through the cloud. When these droplets get heavy enough, they fall. This starts a downdraft. A
convection current develops within the cloud.

A thunderhead is a cumulonimbus cloud.

Formation and disappearance of a thunderstorm.

These storms most frequently form within areas located mid-latitude where warm moist air front
collides and border cool air fronts. Compared to more active parts of the United States, thunderstorms
are relatively rare in Alaska, New England, North Dakota, Montana, and other northern states where
the air is generally cold.

Lightning is an electric current. Within a thundercloud way up in the sky, many small bits of ice
(frozen raindrops) bump into each other as they move around in the air. All of those collisions create
an electric charge. After a while, the whole cloud fills up
with electrical charges. The positive charges or protons
form at the top of the cloud and the negative charges or
electrons form at the bottom of the cloud. Since opposites
attract, that causes a positive charge to build up on the
ground beneath the cloud. The grounds electrical charge
concentrates around anything that sticks up, such as
mountains, people, or single trees. The charge coming up
from these points eventually connects with a charge
reaching down from the clouds and - zap - lightning strikes!

Have you ever rubbed your feet across carpet and then touched a metal door handle? If so, then you
know that you can get shocked! Lightning works in the same way.

Lightning blasts the air with energy. The air heats and expands so quickly that it explodes. This
creates the loud sound of thunder. Do you know why you always hear the boom of thunder after you
see the flash of lightning? Its because light travels faster than sound. If you count the seconds between
seeing lightning and hearing thunder, you can estimate how far away the lightning was. A lapse of five
seconds is equal to about one mile.

You can use thunder to tell how far away a storm is. Next time you see a storm, count the number of
seconds between when you see the lightning and hear the thunder. Take the number of seconds and
divide by 3 and that will tell you how far away the storm is in kilometers. For example: If you counted
6 seconds between the lightning and the thunder, the lightning is 2 kilometers away!