thunderstorm- local storm produced by a cumulonimbus cloud (air mass thunderstorm)
3 Stages of air mass thunderstorms:
1) cumulus stage- first stage where water vapor condenses, forms cumulus clouds
and rising warm air filled with water vapor travels upward in an updraft.
updraft- warm air rising inside a cloud
downdraft - cold, dense air that sinks inside a cloud
2) mature stage - when the thunderstorm develops a storm cell
cell - updraft and downdraft system inside a thunderstorm
3) dissipating stage - when updrafts weaken, downdrafts are more numerous and the
clouds begins to dissipate
multicell storm - most thunderstorms typically have more than one cell, especially strong
ones.
severe thunderstorm - thunderstorm where the updraft tilts, helps the storm intensify, and
can produce hail greater than three-fourths of an inch in diameter, wind
gusts greater than fifty knots or tornadoes.
Two types of severe thunderstorms:
1) supercell storm - enormous thunderstorm whose cell systems are so perfectly
balanced that it can maintain itself for hours
2) squall line - line of severe thunderstorms sometimes found along a front
Thunderstorm dangers:
1) microburst - small, very strong downdraft that hits the ground then spreads out
horizontally
2) lightning
3) hail