How Thunderstorms Work and Their Fascinating Statistics

You most likely experience thunderstorms regularly, depending on where you are. Do you ever wonder what happens during a thunderstorm? What is behind those frightening thunder noises and bolts and flashes in the sky? What are some of the most extreme things that have happened during these storms? I had a chance to look at fascinating thunderstorm statistics, many of which I never knew about before.

How do thunderstorms form? According to Journal How, cold and hot air meet, ensuring convection. As a result, rain develops in clouds. This stage is the cumulus stage. Heavy rain falls when storm development reaches the mature stage. Once clouds grow into cumulonimbus clouds because of a water vapour surplus, and this factors with instability in the atmosphere and lots of moisture, thunderstorms appear.

Cumolonimbus cloud (Photo credit: Bing Hui Yau on Unsplash)

Check out The Weather Network’s video from 2017 for additional details on how thunderstorms form.

What are the types of thunderstorms? According to NOAA, four thunderstorm types include an ordinary cell, multi-cell cluster, multi-cell line (Squall line) and supercell. 

Supercell thunderstorm (Photo credit: NOAA on Unsplash)

How much space do thunderstorms typically cover and how long do they usually last?  Disaster Center says that an average thunderstorm’s length is 15 miles (24 kilometres) long. Such storms around this measurement often last 20 to 30 minutes.

What are the largest and longest lightning flashes recorded? The World Meteorological Organization (WMO) reported that a lightning flash of 440.6 miles covered a horizontal line in southern Brazil. That is about the same distance from Boston to Washington, DC. The longest lightning flash was 16.73 seconds in northern Argentina on March 4, 2019.

How often do thunderstorms happen in the world? The National Severe Storms Laboratory (NSSL) says that roughly 16 million thunderstorms occur each year globally. At any present time, about 2,000 thunderstorms typically take place.

Where do thunderstorms most often target? According to Geography, the majority of the 2,000 thunderstorms that happen at a given time are in the Intertropical Convergence Zone (ITCZ). It is not just the tropical moisture that ensures these storms, but surface heating and connecting trade winds also come into play. Regions such as Central Africa, southern Central America, Southeast Asia and Indonesia are especially easy targets for these storms.

How do you calculate how far lightning struck from you? OMNI Calculator indicates that to figure out how far the lightning bolt hit, count the number of seconds between the lightning flash and the thunderclap. You divide that number by five for miles and three for kilometres. 

What meets a severe thunderstorm? NOAA says that for a thunderstorm to be severe, winds must be at least 58 miles (93 kilometres) an hour or hail that is one inch (2.5 centimetres) in width or bigger. 

What do lightning colours mean? According to Weather Geeks, blue lightning typically means tons of rain and hail; purple lightning occurs during especially humid conditions, while yellow and white lightning can occur when moisture isn’t as high.
Can humans cause thunderstorms? According to Mental Floss, warm and unstable air can form in large cities due to urban sprawl, which wouldn’t take place if it weren’t for these conditions. Nuclear power plant cooling stacks can also create steam, which can also be a factor in human-caused thunderstorms.

(Photo credit: David Moum on Unsplash)

Cover Photo: Thunderstorm over a city in Singapore (Photo credit: Lee Junda on Unsplash)

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