Thunderstorms- Erakina

March 15, 2022 3 Mins Read

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A perfect day is considered as birds chirping, the sun rising, cozy weather, a cup of beverage and an awesome breakfast to start the day. Nature is full of wonders that we didn’t know about, that’s why many people want to become a nomad and experience the feeling. Let’s see the beauty of thunderstorms, how it is created, and their stages.

Thunderstorms

Thunderstorm on a roadway

A thunderstorm is short weather that is a little violent and accompanied by lightning, dark clouds, rain, and blowing wind. The start of a thunderstorm can’t be guessed by people, only some with knowledge about weather will know it. The warm air of the earth’s surface goes up to the cool atmosphere and forms a cloud and that cloud will go under the process of condensation. The name of the cloud is ‘Cumulonimbus’. The condensation forms water droplets and creates a charge of lightning and a heavy blow of wind with rain. This is how a thunderstorm works. There are 4 types of thunderstorms, they are: single-cell, multi-cell, squall cell, and super-cell. Each type differs according to its size, effect and duration.

Formation of Thunderstorm & its process

Example of the formation of a thunderstorm

A thunderstorm is short time weather that interferes with the earth’s wind and forms a big cloud which gives rain and heavy winds. The technical terms are as follows: A thunderstorm formation starts with a disturbance in the vertical motion of the atmosphere. This happens when the earth’s warm air reaches the cool atmospheric air and forms a cloud. The formed cloud gets bigger and it heats the surrounding air because of condensation. Then the heated cloud forms a low-pressure region which sucks the warm air from the ground. If the sucked air contains moisture it will start the condensation process and the cloud gets bigger. The bigger cloud formation is called cumulonimbus. After the formation of cumulonimbus, it is able to move freely in the atmosphere. The air that goes into the cloud from the ground is called an updraft. The cloud movement in the atmosphere will suck more air and it even gets bigger. The formation of cumulonimbus is a beautiful sight for the people who see it from far away. It will look white and big in shape. When people are near the cloud they can see the dark cloud formation because of condensation.

The water molecules inside the cloud are floating because of the friction between water molecules and updraft wind. The friction inside the cloud separates the charges inside the cloud–the upper side of the cloud becomes positive and the lower side becomes negative charge. This separation of charges is the reason for lightning. Further condensation in the stage makes the water molecules even bigger. This stage makes the cloud look darker. If the updraft lowers, the floating of water molecules inside the cloud will be stopped and it starts falling towards the earth. This phenomenon creates a vacuum inside the cloud so that the cold wind also goes down along with water. This is the mature stage of the cumulonimbus cloud. The air that goes along the water is called downdraft. The heated atmosphere below the cloud evaporates the falling weak water molecules and it will create a powerful density.

Lightning strikes the ground

The density of the atmosphere below the cloud will create a gravitational pull and it forces the air towards the earth’s surface. The pulled air is called a microburst. After the microburst, the downdraft comes as rain with wind and the next step of electro-static induction starts on the earth’s surface. This induction force makes the lightning hit the ground. The quick reach of lightning towards the ground will break the sound barrier which creates a massive sound. Then the cumulonimbus cloud reaches its final stage called dissipation in which the cloud formation shatters and comes down to earth as cold wind.

This is what happens inside and outside when a thunderstorm forms. The dissipation of the cloud is a beautiful sight to look at. The thunderstorm occurs in regions like Ladakh, the North Jammu region, and West Bengal.