Download Natural Disasters Project

Tyler Hamilton
Natural Disasters
12/4/13
Eportfolio Project
Thunderstorms
I choose to do my Eportfolio Project on Thunderstorms, the way that they start, and the
scientific explanation of what is happening during a thunderstorm. What is a thunderstorm? It is a storm
that has lightning and thunder. Thunderstorms are usually associated with strong winds, heavy rain, and
sometimes even snow, sleet, and hail. Although thunderstorms have typically some precipitation, they
do not have to have any precipitation at all.
There are four types of thunderstorms: single-cell, multicell cluster, multicell lines, and
supercells. Supercell thunderstorms are the strongest and is associated with the most severe weather.
Thunderstorms are caused by strong upward movement of warm, moist air. While the warm, moist air
rises, it starts to cool and eventually starts to condense and starts to form clouds. As the rising air
reaches its dew point, water droplets start to fall from the sky towards the earth. As the droplets are
falling, they start to collide with one another making the droplets bigger and is what we see down on
earth’s surface during a thunderstorm.
Thunderstorms are more popular in areas of mid-latitude. The reason for this is because the
warm air collides with the cooler air more frequently in areas of the Mid-West of the states, solely
because of the climate they are in. In a study, it is said that though thunderstorms can happen at all
hours of the day, but they are most likely to be during the spring and summer months during the
afternoon and evening hours.
The damage that a thunderstorm can have is endless but the most prevalent way is through
heavy winds, large hailstone storms, and flash flooding due to the heavy precipitation. Although these
are the most common damages that thunderstorms can cause, it is definitely not the only. Depending
on how intense the thunderstorm is, it can lead to potential tornadoes.
In conclusion I will leave you with some fun facts about thunderstorms!
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The typical thunderstorm is 15 miles in diameter and lasts about 30 minutes.
Nearly 1800 thunderstorms are happening at any point in time around the world. That is about
16 million a year!
Thunderstorms kill more people each year than tornadoes do.
You can estimate how far you are away from the thunderstorm by counting how many seconds
from the sight of lightning until the clap of thunder. Divide the number of seconds by five to get
how many miles you are away.
Despite the size of the thunderstorm, all storms are dangerous.
A picture of how a storm begins to form
A picture of when the water droplets start to collide into one another and fall to the earth
Works Cited
http://www.weatherwizkids.com/weather-thunderstorms.htm
http://www.factmonster.com/ipka/A0875669.html
Picture Number 1: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Thunderstorm
Picture Number 2: http://www.softpedia.com/progScreenshots/Thunderstorm-3DScreenshot-76015.html