Thunderstorms

Thunderstorms: Some Key Facts

• Produced by cumulonimbus clouds and are
accompanied by lightning and thunder.
• Occurs when the atmosphere becomes
unstable—when a vertically displaced air
parcel becomes buoyant and rises on its own.
• The ideal conditions include warm, moist air
near the surface and a large change in
temperature with height (large lapse rate)
Thunderstorm Climatology
 Thunderstorm Amazing Facts
• Some can extend as high as 40,000-65,000
ft!
• The are capable of releases tremendous
amounts of energy (equivalent to several
hydrogen bombs)
• Some are associated with tornados, heavy
rain, and hail.
• Some of winds gusting to over 100 mph!
 Types of Thunderstorms

• Air mass thunderstorms—usually harmless

and short-lived (less than an hour). The
kind we get here!
• Severe thunderstorms – can last for hours
and can become very strong. Associated
with strong winds, tornadoes and hail.
Examples include: supercell storms and
squall lines. We rarely get these!
 The Life Cycle of Air Mass
Thunderstorms
• We understood very little about the inside
of thunderstorms before the famous
Thunderstorm Project of the late 1940s
when armored aircraft (P-61) were flown in
thunderstorms in Ohio and Florida.
M
P-61 Squadron

Hail Damage!
Single Cell Air Mass Thunderstorm

Fig. 10-1, p. 265

Air Mass thunderstorms are SUICIDAL. The cool
downdraft kills the updraft…that is why they don’t live
long enough to become severe.
 Major Thunderstorm Structures

updraft

Cirrus Anvil, Gust Front, Updraft, Downdraft

Roll or Arcus Cloud
 Air Mass Thunderstorms

• Can have several cells

at various stages in
their life cycle
• Updrafts of 2-20 knots
• Cells generally 3-6
miles across

Radar Image of Air Mass

Thunderstorm
Thunderstorms on the Cascades
 Severe Thunderstorms

• Can last for hours and produce strong

winds, large hail, flash flooding, tornadoes.
• Have found the secret of longevity (will
reveal later!)
• Most important types are supercell storms,
squall lines, and bow echo storms.
Supercell Thunderstorm
 Supercell Storms
• One giant updraft that can have upward
speeds as high as 60-100 mph
• Large size: 30-50 miles in diameter.
• The large updraft is often rotating: called a
mesocyclone.
Fig. 10-37, p. 291
Fig. 10-35, p. 290
Fig. 10-4, p. 268
 Supercells on Radar
• In weather radars, supercell storms are
usually apparent as hooked echos.
• The mesocyclone can be seen with the
Doppler winds..
Fig. 10-36, p. 290
Why mesocyclones? Why is wind shear important?

Origin of rotation in the mesocyclone

What is the secret of the strength and
longevity for severe thunderstorms?
• They all grow in environments with large
vertical instability.
• But they also grow in an environment of
large wind shear—wind changing
significantly with height. What difference
does that make?
Need to stop the rotation of cold air in front of storm
 Squall Lines

• Long, linear lines of strong thunderstorms

• Strong narrow convective line, followed by
a wide region of stratiform precipitation
• Mainly in the central and eastern U.S.
Fig. 10-6, p. 269
Squall Line
 Bow Echos
• Can occur when a squall line or group of
thunderstorms “bow out”
• Can produce strong (60-100 mph) straight-
line (non-rotating) winds.
Fig. 10-16, p. 273
Bow Echo Development
Tornado
Fig. 10-32, p. 288
Fig. 10-33, p. 289
Annual Number of Tornadoes per State (upper number)
 Average Number of
Tornadoes by Month in US
Table 10-2, p. 288
Northwest Tornadoes
NW F3 Tornado
A Tornado
Almost Took Out
Bill Gates!
 Origin of rotation in tornadoes
• Severe thunderstorms associated with
mesocyclones (strongest tornadoes)
• Weaker thunderstorms associated with
fronts and shear lines (weaker ones)
Why mesocyclones? Why is wind shear important?

Origin of rotation in the mesocyclone

 Stepped Art
Fig. 10-34, p. 289
Final Spin-Up: Conservation of
Angular Momentum

Angular momentum= mvr=constant

 Another way to get rotation

Weaker Tornadoes on Fronts and Shear Lines

Fig. 10-40, p. 293

Large Hail
Hail Occurs in Strong Thunderstorms with Very Large
Upward Velocities
 Some Hail Facts
• Range in size from 0.2 to 6 inches in diameter.
• Large hailstones are often characterized by
alternating layers of clear and opaque ice,
caused by cycles of riming and freezing.
• Hail produces substantial damage to buildings,
cars, and crops. Major agricultural problem in
areas of the midwest and some overseas
locations with strong thunderstorms.
Car Damage
Crop Damage
Average Number of Days with Hail
Thunderstorm and Cumulus
Downbursts/Microbursts: A
Major Threat to Aviation
 Stepped Art
Fig. 10-15, p. 273
Fig. 10-14, p. 273
http://www.youtube.com/watch?
v=TkavH9aZue8
Fig. 10-15, p. 273
Lightning
Fig. 10-23, p. 280
Mean Annual Lightning Strikes
Lightning Kills!
Lightning is attracted to this

Lightning Rod

Metal Cleat Shoes…good grounding

Lightning can occur cloud to cloud, cloud to ground, cloud to air, or within a cloud
 Lightning Facts
• The majority of lightning occurs within clouds…only
about 20% between cloud and ground.
• The lightning strokes heats a narrow channel to roughly
54,000 F—much hotter than the surface of the sun.
Causes air to expand explosively—producing thunder.
• Light from lightning moves at the speed of light (186,000
miles per second), while sound of thunder only moves at
1/5 mile per second.
• Can use the difference to determine how far the lightning
stroke is: for every 5 second difference-one mile away
 Benjamin
Franklin was the
first to suggest
that lightning
originated in
sparks between
static charges.
Before Lightning Strikes: Development of Areas of Charge in Clouds and Surface
 Charge Separation in Clouds
• NOT WELL UNDERSTOOD!
• Charge separation appears to depend on strong updrafts,
ice crystals, and supercooled water.
• Large ice crystals fall rapidly and collect the smaller,
slower, supercooled water drops in their path. The drops
freeze on the surface of the falling ice crystals, building
graupel particles.
• When graupel particles fall through supercooled water and
ice crystals, they acquire one charge, and the water-ice mix
acquires the opposite charge. Or so we think!
 Typical Cloud to Cloud Lightning Stroke

(a) Negative charge descends the cloud in a series of steps (roughly

50-100 long)—called a “stepped leader”
 Typical Cloud to Cloud Lightning Stroke

(b) As the stepped leader approaches the surface, positive charges moves upwards to meet
it. When the potential gradient (volts per meter) increases to about one million volts per
meter, the insulating properties of the air begins to break down
 Typical Cloud to Cloud Lightning Stroke (negative lightning)

(c) With break down, a return stroke begins, with negative charge
surging downward in the cloud.
 Positive Lightning
• Some lightning originates in the cirrus anvil or upper parts near the top of the
thunderstorm, where a high positive charge resides.
• In this case, the descending stepped leader carries a positive charge while its
subsequent ground streamers will have a negative charge.
• These bolts are known as "positive lightning" because there is a net transfer of
positive charge from the cloud to the ground.
• Positive lightning makes up less than 5% of all strikes. However, positive lightning
is particularly dangerous for several reasons.
– Since it originates in the upper levels of a storm, the amount of air it must move
through to reach the ground usually much greater. Therefore, its electric field
typically is much stronger than a negative strike.
– Its flash duration is longer, and its peak charge and potential can be ten times
greater than a negative strike; as much as 300,000 amperes and one billion volts!
Positive
Lightning!
Lightning Detection Networks

Sensors detect the radio waves emitted

by lightning strokes
Recent Example
 What do you do when lightning
is around
• Cars are very safe!
• Stay away from trees!
Figure 2, p. 282
A car struck by
lightning on the
520 bridge
 What to do?
• No more golf!
• If out in the open go to a low spot and
crouch down—the lightning crouch!
Fig. 10-24, p. 281