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A thunderstorm, also known as an electrical storm or a lightning storm, is a storm characterized by the presence of lightning [1] and its acoustic effect on the Earth's atmosphere, known as thunder. [2] Relatively weak thunderstorms are sometimes called thundershowers. [3] Thunderstorms occur in a type of cloud known as a cumulonimbus. [4]
Thunderstorms act as a giant battery in the atmosphere, charging up the electrosphere to about 400,000 volts with respect to the surface. [3] This sets up an electric field throughout the atmosphere, which decreases with increase in altitude. Atmospheric ions created by cosmic rays and natural radioactivity move in the electric field, so a very ...
Generally, thunderstorms require three conditions to form: moisture, an unstable airmass, and a lifting force (heat). All thunderstorms, regardless of type, go through three stages: the developing stage, the mature stage, and the dissipation stage. [11] [better source needed] The average thunderstorm has a 24 km (15 mi) diameter. Depending on ...
Lightning is a natural phenomenon, more specifically an atmospheric electrical phenomenon. It consists of electrostatic discharges occurring through the atmosphere between two electrically charged regions, either both existing within the atmosphere or one within the atmosphere and one on the ground, with these regions then becoming partially or wholly electrically neutralized.
Parts of Texas and Louisiana were under a tornado watch Thursday night as a line of thunderstorms battered the south-central U.S., threatening the region with large hail, damaging winds and heavy ...
Areas like the Midwest and South see a lot of thunderstorms because moisture-heavy air from the Gulf of Mexico travels northward, providing plenty of unstable energy in the atmosphere.
The summer season is in full effect across the United States, and millions of people have already felt the effects of a heat dome, a phenomenon that acts like nature's oven. A heat dome is a ...
The energy needed for these storms to form comes in the form of insolation, or solar radiation. Air-mass thunderstorms do not move quickly, last no longer than an hour, and have the threats of lightning, as well as showery light, moderate, or heavy rainfall. Heavy rainfall can interfere with microwave transmissions within the atmosphere.