Creating Severe Thunderstorms In The Plains States

Hurricanes and tornadoes are both severe weather events that can potentially cause a great deal of damage to property. Both of these storms can threaten human life and in severe events with either a hurricane of a tornado there may well be a loss of life. They may be quite different in how they form and what they actually do but on the other hand those storms are both potentially devastating so they fall into the same category of potential severe weather danger. People who live in areas where hurricanes and tornadoes are known to appear during certain seasons of the year are always urged to be alert to weather warning systems. Those same residents know from experience to keep their radios tuned to weather emergency stations and they are in many cases prepared for the brunt of a storm by building basement shelters.

When tornadoes do form; such places as the National Weather Service (2014) classify tornadoes into three categories. These categories are weak, strong, and violent. “

They are known as convective storms. Cell thunderstorms form in regions where limited vertical wind shear is present. The winds direction or speeds do not abruptly change rapidly. Ordinary storms develop and mature through a cycle, as cell thunderstorms don’t have this development. Different conditions vary from warm air rising, random turbulent eddies and terrain. These are a few that can be a trigger to these more impactful storms.

So the warm moist air creates clouds of rain and thunderstorm. Adding to that winds with different speed going in different directions assisting in expanding these great clouds of rain and thunderstorm. With

The yearly average number of thunderstorm occurs in parts of Colorado and New Mexico are powerful and less noted Thunderstorms in the US even though there are up to 70 thunderstorms a year. Solar heating is one requirement for thunderstorm formation yes, but another extremely important requirement is warm moist air. The Gulf of Mexico supplies areas with moist tropical air masses. These air masses are almost always unstable, so are quickly able to form into cumulonimbus clouds as the surface these areas Eastern Colorado and Northeastern New Mexico of are pretty much made of mountainous terrain. With mountain slopes in these areas that face the sun absorb more solar radiation and become a lot warmer creating strong updrafts that form into cumulus

Before a tornado hits you should have a ready kit such as a weather radio, batteries, snacks, and flashlights and have a communication plan with your family. You should also be aware of the radio, or newscasts for information. Be on alert for any change in the weather and danger signs such as dark, often green sky, large hail, a large low-laying cloud especially if it rotates and loud roaring sounds. Be prepared to take immediate cover (ready.gov). It is suggested we know the difference between a watch and a warning. A watch means to be aware of any possible threats of a tornado and a warning means to take cover immediately. During a tornado people, should seek shelter away from window, doors, outside walls and be on the lowest level possible such as a basement. It is recommended to cover your head. If you are caught outside you should lie in a noticeably lower level of the road way, or get inside the vehicle and buckle up. After the storm, you should be aware of the media and stay away from any down power lines. If you are trapped, you should tap on a pipe or wall so rescuers can locate you. Although no one knows when a tornado may hit, we should be aware and

Suddenly the sky darkens and you hear the dreaded rumbling of an approaching storm. Rain begins to fall, starting slowly and quickly increasing in intensity.

When a thunder storm passes overhead strong negative charges attract positive charges from the ground. The positive charges in the ground will move towards and up the tallest things in the area wether that be trees or telephone poles. Negative charges will "branch" down towards the positive charges and the first negative charge to get close to the ground a positive charge will fly into the negative charge when these two charges finally connect they create a lightning stream. It's called a thunderstorm for a reason so let's now talk about thunder.

A tornado is a very complex and complicated type of outdoor vacuum. The various types of tornadoes are caused when a great size of particles become part of cloud and start releasing heat rapidly which makes it rise and create a vacuum underneath it. The air that quickly goes into the vacuum creates the center of the tornado or the tornadoes vortex. Then when the air temperature changes it causes a sudden drop in the air pressure. When the heat is being released in the vacuum it causes precipitation. The rain released is equal to the amount of heat absorbed.

The Tornado Alley is where most of tornadoes are reported. It ranges from Texas to Iowa. There are areas that border the Tornado Alley that have common tornadoes occurrences. There are terrible effects after a tornado has passed by an area, this means people have been injured or have died, buildings and other structures have been destroyed, and habitats or ecosystems can be destroyed. The damages that have been made from the tornadoes will be costly, thousands, hundreds of thousands, it all depends on how strong and long that tornado lasted, and how much damage it caused. Many cities and towns are equipped with a warning siren, when a tornado has been reported, they will warn the people who live in that are to evacuate before it arrives, to keep the people safe. There is a tornado watch and tornado warning. There is a huge difference between the both of them. The tornado watch is when there is a POSSIBILITY of a tornado existing nearby, but is not confirmed. A tornado warning is when the situation becomes serious, this is when it has been confirmed that there is an existing tornado that is most likely going to strike that area. They will activate the warning sounds throughout the city or town, which tells the people to evacuate the area immediately. Tornadoes can be very dangerous and it is important to understand the danger of tornadoes. They lead to bad results and it is best to evacuate or find a way to stay safe

Over the past century, lightning has consistently been in the top 2 causes of storm-related deaths in the United States.1 It is a widespread danger to the physically active population, in part because of the prevalence of afternoon to early evening thunderstorms from late spring to early fall and a societal trend toward outdoor physical activities during those times.1 When lightening is present it is important to perform all aspects of the Emergency Action Plan: Establish a chain of command; Use a reliable means of monitoring the weather; Identify safe locations; Establish specific criteria to suspend and resume activity. If thunder can be heard, lightning is close enough to be a hazard, and people should go to a safe location immediately.1

There is one instance that lightning strikes ceased to occur from January to March 2010 that temporarily raised fears of the phenomenon being extinguished permanently but was later found out that it was drought that caused it. Humidity in a sense may have played a vital role in the occurrence but scientists lately say that maybe it’s the region’s wind patterns and unique topography that contribute to the special phenomenon. They say that when warm winds, trapped by the surrounding mountains in Lake Maracaibo, collides with cool air coming down from the Andes mountains, they are forced to condense, thus creating thunderclouds.

NASA said, that the storms on Earth are caused by phenomena when Earth’s magnetosphere interact with particles. The first series of six powerful solar eruptions were triggered when this happened (Dance). According to Charles Deehr, March

In order to produce lightning, a cloud must first become electrified. Cloud electrification must occur on two spatial scales. First, a small scale process that charges individual hydrometeors must occur. Second, a large (~5 km) scale process that effectively separates the charges by polarity. There are several primary theories of how storms become electrified. These include a convective mechanism, and inductive mechanism, and lastly a precipitation – or non-inductive – mechanism. These three theories for storm electrification, including their strengths and shortcomings, will be discussed below.

As a thundercloud fills with air, rising ice crystals collide with falling hailstones. The ice is then strjpped by the hail strips. The top of the cloud becomes predominantly positive and the bottom mostly negative, with scattered positive areas at its base. The negative charges in the lower cloud induce a positive region. Static