Severe thunderstorms containing large hail, damaging winds, tornadoes and frequent lightning with heavy rainfall will spread from the Mississippi, Ohio, Tennessee Valleys today then to the East Coast on Monday. Meanwhile, a significant ice storm continues across parts of the Upper Midwest and Great Lakes and Upstate New York and northern New England. For the Southwest, critical fire conditions. Read More >
Fig. 1. A “shelf cloud,” representing the leading edge of air spreading horizontally away from a thunderstorm downdraft. Wind gusts of 60 mph or more would likely be experienced along the leading edge and just to the rear of this cloud formation.
Fig. 2. Schematic of a mature thunderstorm, depicting the updraft (yellow arrows pointing toward top of the page) and the downdraft
A thunderstorm may eventually grow to a height of 50,000 feet or more before it stops developing. Generally speaking, the “taller” the storm, the more likely it is to produce violent weather.
Thunderstorms are characterized in two ways: general and severe. A Severe thunderstorm is one that produces large hail (i.e., one-inch diameter or larger), damaging wind gusts, and/or tornadoes.