Types of Thunderstorms

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When thunderstorm are mentioned, a large gray mass of clouds with an anvil shape immediately comes to mind, and most people never give it a second thought. Thunderstorms form because of the rapid upward movement of warm, moist air (2010, Thunderstorm). Depending on the severity of the storm there can be anything from several inches of rain to hail, and in some severe cases even tornadoes. Thunderstorms can be classified as a single-cell, multi-cell, or super-cell, with super-cells being the most severe of the three. Because of the large amounts of rain that can accompany a thunderstorm, they are also responsible for secondary disasters like flash flooding.

The first type of thunderstorm is a single cell storm which is nothing more than an updraft and a downdraft working together to create weather. Single-cell thunderstorms usually pop up out of the blue and only last for a short period of time. Because of the short life span associated with this type of storm they are sometime referred to as a “pulse storm” (1998, Texas weather network). Single cell storms are usually not well formed and happen at random times, which makes them hard to forecast when and where severe weather will occur (n.d., Singlecell Thunderstorms). While a single cell storm only lasts for a short period of time, they are still capable of producing severe weather. Due to the unpredictability of these types of storms the microburst threat to aviation is very serious (n.d., Singlecell Thunderstorms).

The next type of thunderstorm is a multicell storm, which is nothing more than what the name implies multiple cells working together to create a storm front. Several of these updrafts and downdrafts work together in close proximity to create what is called a mu...

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