Severe Weather

Describe the formation of a thunderstorm:

Answer explanation

Thunderstorms form when warm, moist air rises into cold air. The warm air becomes cooler, which causes moisture, called water vapor, to form small water droplets - a process called condensation. The cooled air drops lower in the atmosphere, warms and rises again. This circuit of rising and falling air is called a convection cell. If this happens a small amount, a cloud will form. If this happens with large amounts of air and moisture, a thunderstorm can form.

Tags

NGSS.MS-ESS2-5

NGSS.MS-ESS2-6

Describe the formation of lightning:

Answer explanation

As ice crystals high within a thunderstorm cloud flow up and down in the turbulent air, they crash into each other. Small negatively charged particles called electrons are knocked off some ice and added to other ice as they crash past each other. This separates the positive (+) and negative (-) charges of the cloud. The top of the cloud becomes positively charged while the base of the cloud becomes negatively charged.

Tags

NGSS.MS-ESS2-5

Draw the lightning that could occur with this cumulonimbus cloud:

Tags

NGSS.MS-ESS2-5

Identify the information as pertaining to either tornadoes or hurricanes or both:

40 mph - 300 mph winds

• Tornado

• Hurricane

• Both

Identify the information as pertaining to either tornadoes or hurricanes or both:

25 mph - 40 mph movement speed

• Tornado

• Hurricane

• Both

Identify the information as pertaining to either tornadoes or hurricanes or both:

15 mph -20 mph movement speed

• Tornado

• Hurricane

• Both

Identify the information as pertaining to either tornadoes or hurricanes or both:

74 mph -200 mph wind speeds

• Tornado

• Hurricane

• Both

Tags

NGSS.MS-ESS2-5

Identify the information as pertaining to either tornadoes or hurricanes or both:

Associated with thunderstorms

• Tornado

• Hurricane

• Both

Tags

NGSS.MS-ESS2-5

Identify the information as pertaining to either tornadoes or hurricanes or both:

Cyclone (rotating winds)

• Tornado

• Hurricane

• Both

Identify the information as pertaining to either tornadoes or hurricanes or both:

Storm surge (flooding)

• Tornado

• Hurricane

• Both