A thunderstorm can be one of the more fascinating events that occurs weatherwise in the Midwest. Not only can they form quickly and send people running for cover, but they can dissipate just as fast. But what actually happens during one of these thunder boomers you might be asking? Well, let’s take a look!
A thunderstorm begins as bubbles of rising warm air due to the heating of the surface by the sun. If the air surrounding the rising air bubbles is cooler, then the warmer air will continue to rise. This is called convection. Eventually the warm bubble of air begins to cool as it rises, and the water vapor begins to condense into tiny water droplets. This of course is the formation of cumulus clouds and if the updrafts continue and the moisture is present, the cumulus cloud grows into a thunderstorm. At this point only rising air feeds the thunderstorm as the updrafts continue to supply moisture to the storm. This is called the cumulus stage.
Eventually, water droplets and sometimes hailstones begin to fall through the thunderstorm. This is the beginning of the mature stage, the most intense part of the thunderstorm. Updrafts continue to feed the storm, but the falling precipitation begins to drag down cooler air and these downdrafts bring the rain and cooler air to the surface. The final stage of a thunderstorm is the dissipating stage where the downdrafts take over and the precipitation becomes lighter and ends.