Thundercloud. Thunderclouds and lightning

2024 Author: Henry Conors | [email protected]. Last modified: 2024-02-12 02:41

Thunderstorm is a natural phenomenon in which electrical discharges are formed inside clouds or between a cloud and the earth's surface. In such weather, dark thunderclouds appear. As a rule, this event is accompanied by thunder, heavy rain, hail and strong winds.

Education

In order for a thundercloud to form, there must be several factors for the development of such a thing as convection. These structures are sufficient moisture for precipitation and elements of cloud particles in the liquid and icy state.

Convection contributes to the development of thunderstorms in such cases:

• uneven heating of air near the surface of the earth and in its upper layers. An example is the different temperature of land and water surface;

• during the displacement of warm air by cold air in the atmospheric layers;

• A thundercloud appears in the mountains when the air rises.

Each such cloud goes through the stages of cumulus, mature thunderstorm and decay stage.

Structure

The movement and distribution of electric charges around and inside a thundercloud is continuous anda constantly changing process. The dipole structure is dominant. Its meaning is that the negative charge is located at the bottom of the cloud, and the positive charge is at the top. Atmospheric ions moving under the influence of an electric field create so-called shielding layers at the cloud boundaries, covering the electrical structure with them.

Depending on the geographical location, the main negative charge is located where the air temperature is from -5 to -17 °C. The space charge density is 1-10 C/km³.

Thunderclouds moving

The speed of any clouds, including thunderclouds, directly depends on the movement of the earth. The rate of movement of an isolated thunderstorm most often reaches 20 km / h, and sometimes even 65-80 km / h. The latter phenomenon occurs during the movement of active cold fronts. In most cases, as old thunderstorm cells decay, new ones form.

Thunderstorm is driven by energy. It lies in latent heat, which is released when water vapor condenses, forming a cloud drop. An estimate of the energy of a thunderstorm in general can be made based on the amount of precipitation.

Distribution

At the same time, there are thousands of thunderclouds on our planet, in which the average number of lightning reaches one hundred per second. They are distributed unevenly over the Earth's surface. Over the oceans, such weather is observed ten times less often than over the continents. Thunderclouds are most often found in placestropical and subtropical climate. The maximum lightning strikes are concentrated in Central Africa.

In areas such as the Antarctic and the Arctic, there is generally no thunderstorm activity. Conversely, mountainous areas such as the Cordillera and the Himalayas are familiar areas for such lightning phenomena as a thundercloud. Seasonally, this weather occurs most of the time in the summer during the daytime and rarely in the evening and in the morning.

Thunderstorms in other natural phenomena

Thundercloud is usually accompanied by heavy rain showers. On average, 2 thousand cubic meters of precipitation falls in such weather. In larger thunderstorms, ten times more.

A tornado (also a tornado) is a whirlwind that creates a thundercloud. It descends, often to the very ground level. It has the appearance of a trunk formed from a cloud hundreds of meters in size. The diameter of the funnel is usually about four hundred meters.

In addition to these natural phenomena, a thundercloud contributes to squalls and downdrafts. The latter occurs at an altitude where the air temperature is lower than in the environment. The stream becomes even colder as it melts particles of ice precipitation, which evaporate into cloud drops.

The spreading downdraft creates a distinct color difference between warm, humid and cold air. The movement of a squall front can be easily recognized by a sharp drop in temperature - five degrees Celsius or more - and strong winds (can reach and exceed 50 m / s).

Destruction by a tornado has a circular shape, and by a downdraft - a straight line. Both phenomena eventually lead to rain. On rare occasions, precipitation evaporates during the fall. This phenomenon is called "dry storm". In other cases, there is a downpour, hail, and then floods.

Safety

There are a number of rules of conduct during the weather, which is accompanied by thunder and lightning. Thunderclouds are extremely dangerous for the life of all creatures, not only on the street (although this is the biggest risk), but also near indoor windows. It is important to know that lightning discharges most often hit tall objects. This is because the electrical particles follow the path of least resistance.

During thunderstorms, stay away from power plants and power lines, under tall, lonely trees, and in open areas (such as fields, valleys, or meadows). Swimming in rivers, lakes and other bodies of water is dangerous because water has good electrical conductivity.

A plane flying through a cumulonimbus cloud enters a zone of turbulence. At such moments, transport throws in all directions under the influence of cloud flows. Passengers feel a strong shaking, and the plane feels a load that is extremely undesirable for it.

Has a high risk of using a motorcycle, bicycle, or other object that is made of metal. It is also life-threatening to be on any high ground, such as the rooftops of houses that are closest to thunderclouds. A photosuch natural phenomena give the impression of beauty and spectacularity, but the risk of observing such weather from the street can cost a person his life.