Asked by: Khaoula Tollers
news and politics weather

Why is there thunder when it's hot?

21
The high humidity, in conjunction with warmtemperatures, creates massive amounts of warm, moist airrising into the atmosphere, where it can easily form athunderstorm. As the process of evaporation and condensationoccurs, these droplets collide with other moisture that iscondensing as it rises.


Just so, why does it thunder when it's hot?

Thunderstorms develop when the air is unstable,which is caused when there is a layer of warm air near theground hovering underneath a layer of much colder air. Storms aremore common in the summer when the days are longer, as there ismore sunshine and therefore more energy.

Subsequently, question is, what temperature do thunderstorms form? As a general rule, the surface dewpoint needs to be 55degrees Fahrenheit or greater for a surface basedthunderstorm to occur.

Similarly one may ask, can Heat Lightning hurt you?

According to the National Severe Storms Laboratory,lightning has been documented to travel up to 25 miles, butmore commonly strikes up to 10-15 miles away. For this reason, whatis thought of as heat lightning probably won't hurtyou, but storms move of course, so stay alert.

What is the reason behind thunder and lightning?

Thunder is caused by lightning,which is essentially a stream of electrons flowing between orwithin clouds, or between a cloud and the ground. The airsurrounding the electron stream is heated to as hot as 50,000degrees Farhenheit, which is three times hotter than the surfaceof the sun.

Related Question Answers

Jael Rosaria

Professional

Is loud thunder dangerous?

The shock wave and thunder (at very close rangeto the lightning bolt) can cause property damage, but no injurieshave been reported. Windows have been shattered by the concussionof thunder, and nail-supported drywall has popped away fromwood studs in houses.

Benigna Buisson

Professional

How long can a thunderstorm last?

The typical thunderstorm is 15 miles in diameterand lasts an average of 30 minutes.

Gunter Lotazilla

Professional

What does a green sky mean?

A green sky means a tornado is coming. Thegreen color does signify the storm is severe though.The color is from the water droplets suspended in the storm,absorbing red sunlight and radiating greenfrequencies.

Rakia Irmischer

Explainer

Do thunderstorms cool the air?

Thunderstorms cool the surface in a number ofways, but the main cooling method uses the exact samemechanism used by the refrigerators that keep our food cold. Whenit evaporates at the surface, it cools the local area, and the heatis moved from the surface to the clouds and onupwards.

Veronica Parramon

Explainer

What causes a thunderstorm to end?

After about 30 minutes, the thunderstorm beginsto dissipate. This occurs when the downdrafts in the cloud beginsto dominate over the updraft. Since warm moist air can no longerrise, cloud droplets can no longer form. The storm dies out withlight rain as the cloud disappears from bottom to top.

Djenebou Puigmal

Explainer

Why does the sky turn green during a storm?

That blue color stems from the scattering of light byair molecules. The same reason, scattered light, causes thesky to look blue. Some experts think that, before athunderstorm, golden-reddish light from a sun low in thesky – and a natural bluing effect of the air –combine to create a green sky.

Nadaya Gul

Pundit

What comes first thunder or lightning?

If we are watching the sky, we see the lightningbefore we hear the thunder. That is because light travelsmuch faster than sound waves. We can estimate the distance of thelightning by counting how many seconds it takes until wehear the thunder. It takes approximately 5 seconds for thesound to travel 1 mile.

Ignacia Abdelkader

Pundit

How hot is a lightning bolt?

Yep, the answer is a bolt of lightning, which can reachtemperatures of roughly 30,000 kelvins (53,540 degreesFahrenheit). The sun, on the other hand, is eclipsed in thiscase - its surface temperature is just 6,000 kelvins(10,340 degrees Fahrenheit).

Janice Vertogradov

Pundit

Is it safe to use the toilet during a thunderstorm?

A toilet is probably as safe a place asany in a lightning storm, if you're not touching metal. Ifyou have metal plumbing instead of PVC, lightning can follow thepipes through your walls and give you a good (perhaps fatal)jolt.

Marey Obermeyer

Pundit

What is the 30 30 rule for lightning?

Lightning 30/30 rule: If it takes lessthan 30 seconds to hear thunder after seeing the flash,lightning is near enough to pose a threat; after the stormends, wait 30 minutes before resuming outdooractivities.

Hinda Lizarte

Pundit

Is heat lightning safe to swim in?

A: Swimming during a thunderstorm is one of themost dangerous things you can do. Lightning regularlystrikes water, and since water conducts electricity, a nearbylightning strike could kill or injure you. To be reallysafe, you should not swim in an indoor pool whenlightning is around.

Dessislava Orengia

Teacher

Mariah Bergondo

Teacher

What are the 4 types of lightning?

Types of cloud-to-ground lightning includestaccato, forked, ribbon, and bead lightening. –Staccatolightning is a strike which is a short-duration stroke thatoften, but not always, appears as a single very bright flash andoften has considerable branching.

Sisinio Talos

Teacher

Is Thunder the sound of lightning?

Thunder is the sound caused bylightning. The sudden increase in pressure and temperaturefrom lightning produces rapid expansion of the air withinand surrounding the path of a lightning strike. In turn,this expansion of air creates a sonic shock wave, often referred toas a "thunderclap" or "peal of thunder".

Nadja Herrada

Teacher

Can thunder kill you in your house?

Police investigators recently found the badlyburned body of a man in his house, and concluded thathe was killed by lightning — while stillindoors. Lightning can kill — about 30 Americans diefrom lightning strikes each year. But being struck indoorsis exceedingly rare.

Hug Jungheinrich

Reviewer

Is Heat Lightning a myth?

The old wives' tale that a hot, humid summer night cangenerate lightning without a thunderstorm, called "heatlighting," is exactly that--a meteorological myth.Heat lightning is just normal lightning from athunderstorm too far away for the sounds of thunder to betransmitted.

Alaide Bing

Reviewer

Does heat lightning make noise?

weather.com
This theory is completely false, and heat lightningdoes not actually exist. The flashes of light you are seeingare indeed lightning, but the lightning is from adistant thunderstorm far enough away where the sound ofthunder doesn't travel all the way to where you're observingit from.

Izaskum Liao

Reviewer

What is the most dangerous stage of a thunderstorm?

The Mature Cumulus Stage
The storm has considerable depth, often reaching 40,000to 60,000 feet (12 to 18 km). Strong updrafts and downdraftscoexist. This is the most dangerous stage when tornadoes,large hail, damaging winds, and flash flooding mayoccur.

Cole Bestard

Reviewer

How fast do thunderstorms move?

A severe thunderstorm is a thunderstormthat contains large hail, 1 inch in diameter or larger, and/ordamaging straight-line winds of 58 mph or greater (50 nauticalmph). Rain cooled air descending from a severe thunderstorms canmove at speeds in excess of 100 mph.