Weather Encyclopedia

Thunderstorm Formation

A thunderstorm occurs from a cumulonimbus cloud. They produce deadly lightning and can be dangerous to people, animals, crops and property.

They also bring rain to many areas of the United States, providing much needed moisture to plants and animals, keeping reservoirs replenished and rivers, lakes and streams full.

In a thunderstorm, you will find lightning and thunder. The lightning present in all thunderstorms is an electrical discharge that balances the difference between positive and negative charges within a cloud, between two clouds, or between a cloud and the ground.

Thunder is an explosion of noise heard when atmospheric gases are suddenly heated by a discharge of lightning.

Thunderstorms are sometimes accompanied by heavy rain, gusty winds, hail and can, under the right atmospheric conditions, spawn tornadoes.

Multicell Thunderstorms

A typical multicell thunderstorm is made up of two to four cells at any given time. There is always at least one active cell within a multicell storm. Thunderstorms form and die out within the storm. Cells continue to form within the clouds as the multicell storm regenerates itself. A total of thirty or more cells may develop during the lifetime of a storm.

Severe Thunderstorms

Supercell thunderstorms are tremendously powerful storms that can produce severe weather conditions for hours on end, sometimes affecting towns and cities in their paths for hundreds of miles.

Although supercell thunderstorms produce much of our severe weather, other thunderstorms can also become severe under the right conditions. The intensity of the storm is determined by conditions brewing in the atmosphere.

Check out some of data sources meteorologists use to forecast thunderstorms.