Hello!

I am Loreen!
I am here to discuss Thunderstorms
and Tornadoes
You can find me at:
[email protected]

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THUNDERSTORMS
AND TORNADOES
 “
Quotations are commonly printed
as a means of inspiration and to
invoke philosophical thoughts
from the reader.

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THUNDERSTORMS
Let’s start with the first set of slides

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WHAT IS A THUNDERSTORM?

◎ A thunderstorm is a storm best

described by the presence of
lightning and its acoustic effect on
the atmosphere.
◎ It is also known as an electrical
storm or a lightning storm.
◎ Thunderstorms occur in a type of
cloud known as a cumulonimbus.
◎ Thunderstorms are a weather disturbance that is
violent and short-lived; and is usually in lieu with
lightning, thunder, dense clouds, heavy rain or hail,
and strong, gusts.
◎ A result of convection which is usually created by
surface heating and is an upward atmospheric motion
that transports whatever it is in the air along with hit.

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Cumulonimbus Cloud
◎ Cumulonimbus is a dense,
towering vertical cloud, forming
from water vapor carried by
powerful upward air currents. If
observed during a storm, these
clouds may be referred to as
thunderheads. Cumulonimbus
can form alone, in clusters, or
along cold front squall lines

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What causes thunderstorms?
◎ For a thunderstorm to occur, the
following ingredients must be present.
○ Moisture- to form clouds and rains
○ Unstable air- warm air that can
rise rapidly
○ Lift- caused by cold or warm
fronts, sea breezes, mountains, or
the sun’s heat capable of lifting the
air to form thunderstroms.

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THUNDERSTORM ANATOMY
◎ Single-cell Thunderstorm
○ These storms usually last 20 to 30
minutes. These can make severe weather
elements such as downbursts, hail, some
heavy rainfall and in rare cases, weak
tornadoes.
○ Created by one convection cell.
○ Often form during summer and include
towering cumulonimbus clouds that can
grow 12km high in the atmosphere.

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THUNDERSTORM ANATOMY
◎ Multi-cell Cluster Storms
○ These are a group of cells
moving as a single unit, with
each cell in a different stage of
the thunderstorm life cycle.
These can make moderate size
hail, flash floods and weak
tornadoes.
○ Often the convection cells are
arranged as a cluster.

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THUNDERSTORM ANATOMY
◎ Multicell Line Storms
○ It is composed of a line of storms with
a continuous and well-developed
gusty front at the leading edge of the
line.
○ This is also known as a squall line.
○ These lines can often times be found
ahead of a powerful cold front. Heavy
rain, hail, lightning and tornadoes can
occur, but the biggest threat with
these can be damaging straight-line
winds.
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THUNDERSTORM ANATOMY
◎ Supercells
○ This is best described as a
thunderstorm with a rotating
updraft. Supercells can make
strong downbursts, large hail,
occasional flash floods and
weak to violent tornadoes.
○ Supercells are the least common
type of storm, but easily the
most intense. If the conditions
are just right, supercells can last
for hours before fizzing out.
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STAGES IN THE
DEVELOPMENT OF A
THUNDERSTORM
Let’s start with the first set of slides

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Thunderstorm’s Three Stages:

◎ 1. Cumulus Stage- storm clouds form

◎ 2. Mature Stage- the storm is fully formed
◎ 3. Dissipating Stage- The storm weakens and
breaks apart.
CUMULUS STAGE

◎ Also known as the “developing

stage”
◎ Marked by a cumulus cloud that
is being pushed upward by a
rising column of air (updraft).
◎ The cumulus cloud soon looks
like a tower as the updraft
continues to develop.
◎ There is no rain during this stage
but occasional lightning.
MATURE STAGE

◎ The thunderstorm enters the

mature stage when the updraft
continues to feed the storm, but
precipitation begins to fall out
of the storm, creating a
downdraft.

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MATURE STAGE

◎ When the downdraft and rain-

cooled air spreads out along the
ground, it forms a gust front, or a
line of gusty winds.
◎ The time for hail, heavy rain,
frequent lightning, strong winds
and tornadoes.

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 DISSIPATING STAGE

◎ A large amount of precipitation is

produced and the updraft is
overcome by the downdraft.
◎ At the ground, the gust front
moves out a long distance from
the storm and cuts off the warm
moist air that was feeding the
thunderstorm.

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19
 THUNDERSTORM
FORMATION
Let’s start with the first set of slides

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◎ The sun heats the surface of
the earth, which warms the air
above it. If this warm surface
air is forced to rise- hills or
mountains, or areas where
warm/cold or wet/dry air
bump together can cause
rising motion- it will continue
to rise as long as it weighs less
and stays warmer than the air
around it.
◎ As the air rises, it transfers heat from the
surface of the earth to the upper levels of
the atmosphere. The water vapor it
contains begins to cool, releases the heat,
condenses and forms a cloud.
◎ This circuit of rising and falling air is called
a convection cell. If this happens a small
amount, a cloud will form. If this happens
with large amounts of air and moisture, a
thunderstorm can form.
◎ The cloud eventually grows upward into
areas where the temperature is below
freezing.
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◎ As the storm rises into freezing air, different types of
ice particles can be created from freezing liquid
drops. The ice particles can grow by condensing
vapor (frost) and by collecting smaller liquid drops
that haven’t frozen yet (supercooled).
◎ When two ice particles collide, they usually bounce
off each other, but one particle can rip off a little bit
of ice from the other one and grab some electric
charge.
◎ Lots of these collisions build up big regions of
electric charges to cause of bolt of lightning, which
creates the sound waves as thunder.

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 LIGHTNING AND
THUNDER
Let’s start with the first set of slides

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What is Lightning?
◎ Lightning is the most spectacular element of
thunderstorm.
◎ Lightning causes thunder.
◎ Lightning is a discharge of electricity.
◎ A single stroke of lightning can heat the air around it
to 30,000°C.
◎ This extreme heating causes the air to expand
explosively fast.
◎ The expansion creates a shock wave that turns into a
booming soundnd wave, known as thunder.
What’s Happening Within the cloud?
◎ As ice crystals high within a thunderstorm
cloud floe up and down in the turbulent air,
they crash into each other.
◎ Small negatively particles called electrons are
knocked off some ice and added to other ices
as they crash past each other.
◎ This separates the positive (+) and negative (-)
charges of the cloud.
◎ The top of the cloud becomes positively
charged while the base of the cloud becomes
negatively charged.

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How is a Lightning Bolt Formed?
◎ Because opposite attracts, the negative
charge at the bottom of the storm cloud
wants to link up with the ground’s positive
charge.
◎ Once the negative charge at the bottom of
the cloud gets large enough, a flow of
negative charge called a stepped leader
rushes toward the Earth.
◎ The positive charges at the ground are
attracted to the stepped leader, so positive
charge flows upward from the ground.

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How is a Lightning Bolt Formed?
◎ When the stepped leader and the
positive charge meet, a strong electric
current carries positive charge up into
the cloud.
◎ This electric current is known as the
return stroke.
◎ We see it as the bright flash of a lightning
bolt.
◎ Thunder and lightning occur at roughly
the same time although you see the flash
of lightning before you hear the thunder.
This is because light travels much faster
than sound. 28
What Gives Lightning its Zap?

The accumulation of electric charges has to The connection is made and the protons
Lightning happens when the
be great enough to overcome the insulating rush up to meet the electrons. It is at that
negative charges (electrons) in the properties of air. When this happens, a point that we see lightning and hear
bottom of the cloud are attracted to stream of negative charges pours down thunder. A bolt of lightning heats the air
the positive charges (protons) in the towards a high point where positive charges along its path causing it to expand
ground. have clustered due to the pull of the rapidly. Thunder is the sound caused by
thunderhead. rapidly expanding air. 29
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Lightning Facts
◎ There is no safe place outdoors when a thunderstorm is nearby.
◎ More than 80% of lightning fatality victims are male, typically between the
ages of 15 and 40.
◎ Lightning fatalities are most common during summer afternoons and
evenings.
◎ The energy from one lightning flash could light a 100-watt light bulb for more
than 3 months.
◎ Many wildfires in the western United States and Alaska are ignited by
lightning.
◎ The channel of air through which lightning passes can be heated to 50,000°F-
hotter than the surface of the sun! the rapid heating and cooling of the air
near the lightning channel causes a shock waves that results in the sound we
know as “thunder”. 31
Almost all lightning deaths have occurred outdoors. In recent years,
fatal activities have included:

◎ Boating ◎ Standing under a tree

◎ Riding horses ◎ Swimming
◎ Riding on a lawnmower ◎ Playing sports
◎ Golfing ◎ Watching the storm
◎ Walking ◎ Loading a truck
◎ Mountain Climbing ◎ Fishing
◎ Camping ◎ Running to shelter

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TORNADOES
Let’s start with the first set of slides

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◎ Storms such as thunderstorms and hurricanes become
even more dangerous when they spawn tornadoes.
◎ A dark funnel of cloud extends down below the clouds
of the storm.
◎ If it does not reach the ground, it is called as funnel
cloud. If it does reach the ground, it’s tornado.
◎ Debris and dust are kicked up where the narrow end of
the funnel touches the ground

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TORNADOES

◎ A tornado is a violently rotating column of air

extending from a cumuliform cloud, such as
thunderstorm, to the ground.
◎ The air is in motion because of the difference in
pressure between the center f the tornado (very low
pressure) and the outer edge of the tornado (high
pressure).
◎ Tornadoes may appear nearly transparent until dust
and debris are picked up or a cloud forms within the
funnel.
◎ The average tornado moves from southwest to north
east, but tornadoes can move in any direction and can
suddenly change their direction of motion.

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DEVELOPMENT AND
OCCURRENCE OF TORNADOES
Let’s start with the first set of slides

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TORNADO
◎
LIFECYCLE STAGES
Stage 1: Dust whirl
○ Circulation of air on ground with funnel cloud extension
◎ Stage 2: Organizing Stage
○ Funnel cloud continues dropping
○ Wind rotation speed increasing
◎ Stage 3: Mature Stage
○ Funnel cloud at greatest width
○ Wind rotation speed increasing
○ Funnel cloud on ground
◎ Stage 4: Shrinking Stage
○ Funnel cloud ‘shrinks’ in diameter – increasing wind rotation speed to maximum
○ Most dangerous stage
◎ Stage 5: Decay Stage
○ Funnel cloud takes on a ‘ropey’ look – no longer vertical below cloud base
○ Final stage for tornado: dissipates or is pulled back into cloud
Wall cloud
3rd Stage: Mature

4th Stage: Shrinking

1st Stage Dust Whirl

2nd Stage: Organizing

5th Stage: Decay Stage

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Fujita Scale – Measuring tornadoes
◎ Measuring intensities of
tornadoes based on a scale
developed by Dr. Theodore
Fujita, University of Chicago
(1960s)
◎ F0 – F5: F0 is the weakest and F5
is the most violent possible

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TORNADO
DESTRUCTION
Let’s start with the first set of slides

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TORNADO
FORECASTING
Let’s start with the first set of slides

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Thanks!
Any questions?
You can find me at:
@username & [email protected]

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