Is thunderstorm a rainstorm?

Thunderstorm is a local strong convective weather visible in tropical and temperate regions. Thunderstorms may be accompanied by lightning, lightning, strong winds and heavy precipitation, such as rain or hail. Thunderstorms may occur in spring and summer. Common examples are summer afternoons, but they may also occur together with winter snowstorms, which are called thunderstorms.

The duration of thunderstorm is usually less than 2 hours, and its life cycle includes cumulus stage, maturity stage and dissipation stage. Mature thunderstorms are characterized by highly developed cumulonimbus clouds, with strong upward movement in the convection center and downward movement around them, which can form downburst and squall front.

generative mechanism

Cumulonimbus clouds that form thunderstorms are flourishing. There are often ice crystals in the upper part of the cloud, their attachment, the breaking of water droplets and the convection of air, which cause the charge in the cloud. The charge distribution in the cloud is very complicated, but generally speaking, the upper part of the cloud is dominated by positive charges, and the middle and lower parts of the cloud are dominated by negative charges. There is also a small positive charge region in the strong updraft in front of the lower part of the cloud.

Therefore, there is a potential difference between the top and bottom of the cloud. When the potential difference reaches a certain level, discharge will occur, which is the usual lightning phenomenon. In the process of discharge, the temperature in the flash path suddenly rises, which makes the air volume expand rapidly, thus generating shock waves and leading to strong lightning. When the clouds are very low, sometimes a discharge can be formed between the clouds, which is lightning strike. Therefore, thunderstorms are the product of atmospheric instability and cumulonimbus clouds.