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.
Thunderstorms can consist of just one convection cell, multiple convection cells, or even one extremely large and powerful convection cell.
Below is a description of three types of thunderstorms, classified by their structure: single-cell, mulit-cell and supercell. ACT now to find safe shelter! A warning can cover parts of counties or several counties in the path of danger. How does a thunderstorm form? As the air rises, it transfers heat from the surface of the earth to the upper levels of the atmosphere the process of convection. The water vapor it contains begins to cool, releases the heat, condenses and forms a cloud.
The cloud eventually grows upward into areas where the temperature is below freezing. As a 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 like frost and by collecting smaller liquid drops that haven't frozen yet a state called "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 a bolt of lightning, which creates the sound waves we hear as thunder. The Thunderstorm Life Cycle Thunderstorms have three stages in their life cycle: The developing stage, the mature stage, and the dissipating stage.
Sometimes air is forced up the side of a mountain. Air is also forced upward at weather fronts, where warm and cool air masses collide. But often, updrafts form without a mountain or front to guide them — just because warm air rises. Air near the ground heats up during the day as energy from the Sun heats the ground, which then heats the air. The warmed air rises higher in the atmosphere because warm air has less mass than cool air, making it lighter. As the cumulus cloud continues to grow, the tiny water droplets within it grow larger too as more water from the rising air is added to the droplets.
This creates the downdraft, transporting cooler, humid air to the surface. The downdraft is also responsible for what helps weaken a storm. As the downdraft becomes stronger, it eventually overtakes the updraft, leading to the thunderstorm's demise.
If that warm, moist air can no longer rise, the entire process stops and what once was a dangerous storm, becomes a cloud with light rain that gradually dissipates. Now that we understand the life cycle of storms, let's break down the four different types they can become:. A textbook, run of the mill single storm that develops, grows, and dies like described above would be classified as a single-cell thunderstorm.
You may have heard a meteorologist refer to these as "popcorn" or "pop-up" storms. They are commonly found in the spring and summer, and can bring brief periods of heavy rain and hail. While these storms can be severe, depending on the instability, many times they are not and can bring a welcome relief to intense summertime heat.
While these storms can contain the usual suspects, like hail and gusty winds, the threat of flooding is greater with these. Multi-cell thunderstorms can line up and move continuously over the same area, dumping significant amounts of rain.
0コメント