How Do Thunderstorms Form?

9/28/2021 (Permalink)

Thunderstorms can form anywhere in the world, at any time, as long as the conditions are right. 

A thunderstorm starts when warm moist air near the surface of the earth heats up and begins to rise upward. Because the warm, moist air is less dense, it creates lift, or what is called an updraft. That warm moist air continues to rise and expand. Because air pressure drops as it travels higher, the temperature of the air falls. Water vapors condense at higher altitudes, creating clouds. When water vapors condense, they release heat, and the initial warm moist air will regain some of the heat it lost while expanding and cooling. Thus, the first step of a thunderstorm is a vicious cycle of warm, moist air rising, cooling, and condensing. 

The second part of the equation is a little more complicated.

The clouds will darken as they fill with water vapor and release the water. This release of water creates a downdraft. While that warm moist air is rising into cool dry air and creating clouds, the water vapors will turn to ice. Because the ice is too heavy to be supported by the updrafts, it falls back to the bottom of the cloud. While the ice is falling, it can bump into the other particles and break apart – this rubbing of smaller particle pieces falling creates static electrical charges within the clouds. Eventually, a separation of excess positive charges (top of the cloud) and the negative charges (bottom of the cloud) will form.  When the charge is too strong to be contained within the cloud, it lets out the energy. The negative charge from the bottom of the cloud crawls down to meet a positive charge and a lightning stroke appears (what we call a lightning strike). The lightning stroke creates a channel mid-air. When the light disappears, the air collapses back in, and the rapid expansion of air creates a sound wave that we know as thunder.

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Source: ISCN