Many wonderful (and scary) things happen because of nature. One such example are the different types of weather. There are thunderstorms, tornadoes, hurricanes, avalanches, earthquakes, etc. Although, I think we can all agree that our favorite type of weather is nice, clear weather. In this book, I will discuss thunderstorms, tornadoes, and hurricanes and the science behind them.

Chapter 1: Thunderstorms

A thunderstorm is a rain cloud that produces lightning, thunder, and heavy winds. They form when warm, moist air rises into cold air. The warm air cools down and condenses, which causes it to drop in the atmosphere. The condensed air warms up, rises, and cools down over and over. When there's a lot of air and moisture, it creates a thunderstorm. They're most common around mid-latitude areas because warm air and cool air are colliding. The peak seasons for them to occur are spring and summer. The jet stream near the mid-latitude areas cause the thunderstorms to move in a west to east pattern.

There are three stages to thunderstorm formation: developing, mature, and dissipating. Developing occurs when warm, moist air moves upward and creates cumulus clouds. As the warm air rises, the clouds continue to grow. As it grows, the mature stage begins and the water droplets within the clouds grow larger. Water from the rising air causes these droplets to grow and the clouds start to get darker. Rain leaves the clouds because they cannot hold any more raindrops. While this is all happening, cool, dry air is pushing down on the cloud and creating a downdraft. The air colliding into each other creates lightning and we now have a thunderstorm. In the final stage, dissipating, the downdrafts become stronger than the updrafts and the storm weakens. The clouds disappear and the rain stops.

There are four different types of thunderstorms: single-cell, multi-cell, squall line, and supercell. A single-cell is your everyday storm that comes and goes. A multi-cell is a combination of single-cell storms and the chance of flooding is greater. A squall line is an intense line of thunderstorms that can last for miles. Supercell storms are the most intense and damaging out of all the thunderstorms. They last much longer, but are luckily uncommon. Regardless of what type of storm is happening near you, you should keep your safety in mind. Always, always go inside a building or car when you hear thunder and see dark clouds. If you stand near a tree, a metal pole, or even in an open field, you run the risk of being struck by lightning. Once you're inside, stay away from water and don't use electrical items. Stay away from windows and keep all outside doors tightly shut. 

Thunderstorm Specifics

At any given time, around 2,000 thunderstorms are in progress. In the whole world, around 16 million thunderstorms happen in a year. Cumulonimbus clouds are usually the ones considered thunderstorm clouds. 

A thunderstorm consists of three parts: a core region, an anvil top, and an inflow-outflow region. The core is where warm, moist air becomes rain or other precipitation. The anvil is made of ice particles and forms the highest levels of storms and cumulonimbus clouds. 

When the updrafts in a thunderstorm lift the raindrops to extremely cold temps, hail will fall down.

Clouds have a positively charged top and negatively charged bottom.  When these opposite charges clash within the clouds or with other clouds, they continually build up until they discharge as lightning. Lightning equalizes the air around it, but the charges build up again.

There are four main types of lightning and they're pretty self explanatory: cloud-to-cloud, cloud-to-ground, cloud-to-air, and intracloud (which is lightning within the same cloud).

When lightning strikes the ground, the air around it heats up intensely, around 54,000 degrees Fahrenheit. That very hot air expands rapidly then contracts rapidly when it cools. This creates the loud crack we hear when we see lightning. The rumbling after the crack is the air vibrating.

Chapter 2: Tornadoes

Now, we will talk about something a bit more scarier and intense than a thunderstorm. A tornado is a column of air rotating very violently on the ground. They're extensions of thunderstorms. 

In a thundercloud, the warm air in an updraft can spin if wind pushes it in different directions as it rises. This causes the cold air to sink in gusts and make the air near the ground spin as well. The rotating air speeds up as it's drawn inward and moves horizontally on the land, creating a tornado.

Most tornadoes form in the Great Plains of Central America around May to June. They generally move in a southwest to northeast pattern.

Tornado formation happens in 4 stages: storm development, storm organization, tornado formation, and tornado dissipation. In storm development, warm air rises into the atmosphere and forms cumulus clouds. In storm organization, strong winds cause the warm air updraft to spin. In tornado formation, cold air downdrafts in the thundercloud bring the rotating air down to the ground. The rotation becomes so strong that a column of rotating air forms, creating a tornado. In tornado dissipation, cold downdrafts wrap around the tornado and stops the flow of warm air to it. The tornado slowly narrows and disappears. 

There are two categories of tornadoes that have their own types. First, there are supercell tornadoes, which are formed from supercell thunderstorms.

The most common form of supercell tornado are rope tornadoes. A lot of tornadoes begin as rope tornadoes before becoming a twister or dissipating. A cone tornado is what we think when we hear the word tornado. They're more dangerous than rope tornadoes because they're bigger. A wedge tornadoes are the largest and most destructive out of all the types. They are incredibly wide so they leave a wide range of damage in their wake. Lastly, there are multi-vertex tornadoes, which are multiple tornadoes. Luckily (or unluckily), the extra tornadoes are rope ones, so they won't do that much damage.

The other category of tornadoes are non-supercell tornadoes. They form without thunderstorms. The two types are waterspouts and landspouts. A waterspout is a column of rotating air over water while a landspout is a column over land. Both are not as dangerous as supercell tornadoes.

Now, let's talk about how you can protect yourself and your family from tornadoes. If you see a tornado, do not hide in your car or the first floor of a building. It's very dangerous to be outside or inside something that isn't sturdy. Find a basement, storm cellar, or the lowest floor of any building. Do not be in a room with any windows. Cover yourself with a blanket or anything that can protect your body.