ATM OCN (Meteorology) 100

THUNDERSTORMS:
PART II: THUNDER, LIGHTNING, HAIL & ASSOCIATED THUNDERSTORM PHENOMENA

Summer 2000

Lecture #24 Scheduled for:

27 JUL 2000 (R)

Recommended Readings from Moran and Morgan (1997):

pages 319-329.

Today's Lecture Objectives:

• To describe the sequence of events during a lightning discharge.
• To describe briefly the various theories of cloud electrification.
• To identify various types of lightning.
• To explain the occurrence of thunder.
• To estimate the distance from you to a thunderstorm (from the elapsed time between the lightning flash and the detection of thunder).
• To take proper (recommended) steps to protect yourself from being struck by lightning during a thunderstorm.
• To identify the weather conditions that produce flash floods.
• To differentiate between a "flash flood watch" and "flash flood warning".
• To identify the prescribed safety rules for flash floods.
• To locate in the region in the United States that experiences the greatest frequency of hail.

Outline:

A. INTRODUCTION

• Human Factors
• Meteorological Factors

B. ATMOSPHERIC ELECTRICITY - LIGHTNING

• General Lightning Facts and Figures
• Historical Perspective
• The Physics of Lightning
• Basic Electrostatic Theory
• Atmospheric Electric Fields
• The Lightning Mechanism
• Proposed Charging Mechanisms
• Energy Involved
• Lightning Safety
• Lightning Protection
• Lightning Detection
• Lightning Suppression (Modification)

B. THUNDER - ATMOSPHERIC ACOUSTICS

• Source of Thunder
• Types of Thunder
• Detection Range
• Other Thunderstorm Related Acoustical Phenomena

C. FLASH FLOODS

• Definitions
• Human Factor
• General Situations
• Notable Flash Flood Disasters
• Flood Safety Precautions

D. HAIL

• The Human Factor
• Hail Intensity
• Hail Climatology
• Factors For Hail Occurrence
• Hail Protection
• Hail Detection
• Hail Suppression

Links to Other References:

• Links to Other Tornado and Severe Weather Sites
• The Thunderstorm & severe storm module from Weather World 2010 (Univ. of Illinois-Urbana-Champaign).
• For Educational Resources
• Thunderstorm and lightning lesson and Flash flood lesson in The Severe Weather Information Kit (SWIK) from Univ. of Nebraska at Lincoln
• Lightning Exhibit from UCAR