“Anatomy of a Thunderstorm”
The feeling of anticipation hangs in the air mixed with raw power and pure adrenaline. The increasing rumble vibrates the core of the dark, menacing clouds and shakes the feeling within the spectator as well. There are those that are afraid and those that are excited, but both understand the awesome rage that is pent up inside a good thunderstorm.
To really appreciate the value and the persuasive force that a thunderstorm holds, one must learn why these great and powerful events happen in the first place. Behind its darkness and commanding attitude lies a list of simple ingredients that are required to produce such vicious offspring. These elements by themselves could never dominate a person’s attention, but together they become awe-inspiring.
The first component in the creation of a thunderstorm is moist, warm air. Warm air rises above cold air and as it travels through this atmosphere it loses some of its warmth. When it does this, it causes the moisture to compress and form what we see as clouds. After the warm air has risen to its full potential and cloud cover has spawned, small drops of water begin to band together and freeze in the updraft. This eventually leads to the small ice crystals being released and plummeting to the waiting ground below. Usually, these ice crystals will melt into rain, but occasionally they get so big that it doesn’t fully melt and these balls of ice rain down in a fury of hail.
A true thunderstorm would be disappointing without the phenomenal crashing of loud thunderous applause. We get this gnashing of teeth from thunderstorms because of the effect of lightning heating the air around it. Electrical energy is created when positively charged downdrafts collide with negatively charged updrafts. This conflict of charges produces a burst of energy in the shape of a lightning bolt. When the air around these bolts is heated it expands at a supersonic velocity which creates a loud burst of noise.
The next time you sit with eager expectation and watch the thunderstorm growing, remember that it all started because of little warm, moist air. If something so little can create a beast of such profound beauty and strength, just imagine what we, the human race, can do together.
