Download Storms - Atlanta Public Schools

A violent disturbance in the atmosphere.
Involves sudden changes in air pressure
Cause rapid air movement
Conditions that bring one kind of storm
in one area often cause other kinds of
storms in the same area
• A thunderstorm is a small storm often accompanied
by heavy precipitation and frequent thunder and
lightening.
– A thunderstorm forms when warm, humid air rises
rapidly within a cumulonimbus cloud.
• Thunderstorms
• Tornadoes
• Snowstorms
• Hurricanes
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Torrential Downpours
Strong winds at greater than 58 miles per hour
Hail ¾ inch diameter (or larger)
Frequent lightning
• Issued by National Weather Service
• This means that conditions are favorable for
a thunderstorm
• Length is multiple hours.
• Issued By Local Weather Service
• Means a severe storm has been spotted by
doppler radar
• Usually lasts for only an hour
• A sudden spark or energy
discharge, caused when
electric discharges jump
between parts of a cloud,
nearby clouds, or between
a cloud and the ground.
• Because a lightening bolt
can heat the air near to it
close to 30,000 ̊ C, it
causes the air to expand
explosively. Thunder is
the sound of the
explosion. Since light
travels faster than sound
you see lightening flash
• Temperatures of over 30,000C (much
hotter than Sun’s surface)
• Heated air expands suddenly and
explosively making a sound of thunder.
• Stay indoors, away from doors and windows.
• Avoid objects that conducts electricity, such as metal
objects and bodies of water.
• Do not seek shelter under the trees.
• Do not use phones with cords.
Remember: Cars are pretty safe…
• Because light travels
much faster than
sound.