Why are there thunderstorms?

That's a thunderstorm

• Everyone knows the famous calm before the storm. The air near the ground is then very humid and warm, downright muggy. What you don't notice is that the layers of air above are much colder.
• When the warm, humid air rises up into the cooler areas due to its lower density, the water vapor condenses into small droplets; a cloud forms. The condensation warms the air further and thus increases the updraft.
• With strong updrafts, the typical anvil-shaped thundercloud ("cumulonimbus cloud") forms. This is still relatively warm in the lower area, but drastically colder towards the top.

It gets exciting in the thundercloud

• As a result, the water droplets freeze in the upper area of ​​the cloud and fall down, where they melt again and are carried back up by the updraft.
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• Droplets and ice crystals constantly collide with each other, which has two effects.


Lightning Formation - Explanation

Lightning is a captivating natural phenomenon, and as far as we know today ...

• The particles moving upwards give off electrons to the falling particles when they collide. As a result, the charge within the cloud is noticeably separating. The upper area is positively charged due to the lack of electrons, the lower area negatively charged due to the excess electrons.
• If there is a thunderstorm, it means that the grains of ice have become too big and heavy to be held in the cloud by the updraft. Usually the ice melts completely by the time it hits the ground and there is a cold downpour. Otherwise there will be a hailstorm.
• The negative voltage discharges as lightning into the nearby ground.

The phenomenon described is known as a single thunderstorm cell. In a thunderstorm, several thunderstorm cells can arise, each of which has a different structure due to different factors. It is not uncommon for such cells to meet and form spectacular and highly complex thunderclouds, which you should rather look at from the living room window.