The Thunderstorms of September 2022
What is one? A thunderstorm or lightning or electrical storm is known for its lightning (and that come descend or ascend in various forms and colours) and its audible noise. If the thunder is quieter, it may be known as a thundershower.
What causes one? NOAA (the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration) found in the USA states that a thunderstorm needs "three things - moisture, rising unstable air (air that keeps rising once given a nudge) and a lifting mechanism to provide the nudge".
The sun heats the ground that warms the air above the warmed ground. If the air is "forced" to rise where warm and and cold air or wet and dry air "bumps" into each other and this causes the warm air "to rise as long as as it weighs less and stays warmer than the air around it".
"As a storm rises into freezing air, different types of ice particles can be created from freezing liquid drops. The ice particles can grow by condensing vapour (like frost) and by collecting smaller liquid drops that haven't frozen yet (a state called 'supercooled'). When two ice particles collide, they usually bounce off each other, but one particle can rip off a little bit of ice from the other one and grab some electric charge. Lots of these collisions build up big regions of electric charges to cause a bolt of lightning, which creates the sound waves we hear as thunder."
How many lightning strikes on average hit the Earth during one day? The Daily Telegraph reported on Monday the 5th of August 2022 at 09:32 am that 36,000 lightning strikes woke household and several flood warnings alerts remain in place after the rain fell overnight. NOAA's National Weather Service reports that the average number of lightning strikes worldwide are:
Every second - 100
Per Day - 8.6 million
In the USA per year - 20 million.
The average lightning flash would power a 100 Watt light bulb for 3 months.
You can see an interactive map of the lightning flashes that strike the Earth here.
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