Host
Roy Vasquez
Podcast Content
Lightning may occur inside clouds, between clouds and the ground, or among clouds themselves. Clouds turn black, ranging from white to a darker grey, though clouds do not produce or generate lightning on their own. Although lightning may strike without warning, clouds can darken, winds can increase, and there can be thunderstorm activity when a storm is approaching.
If you see lightning and hear thunder within 30 seconds or less, a threat is imminent, and your spot could be next to hit. You might hear thunder but not see lightning, but this could be because you are too far from the storm, or just missed the impact. You can determine how far away the storm is by counting the seconds between seeing the lightning flash and hearing thunder.
Watch the flash, and then begin counting the seconds it takes to see thunder. If you hear thunder, then the storm is near enough to allow lightning. When lightning strikes near, the sound of thunder is loud, like clapping or popping. When heard 0.6 miles away from the lightning, thunder roars in multiple loud bursts.
Using a flash-to-bang approach for protection, a lightning bolt with 30 seconds of time elapsed between flashing and its resulting clap is at a distance of 6 miles . Five seconds typically indicates a mile, so if there is a 10-second interval between thunder and lightning, a thunderstorm is approximately two miles away. First, count up the number of seconds that pass between a lightning bolt flash and the sound of thunder, and divide that number by five to get an approximation of distance in miles.
It is important to note that lightning can occur more than 10 miles from the storm cell, so you will want all your alerts to be set to that threshold, or higher. In general, the significant threat from lightning is outwards about 6 to 10 miles from the base of the storm clouds. Typically, the storm is higher-based when the lightning is observed, but very little, if any, rainfall falls on the ground.
Remember, thunderstorms and lightning are not the only weather hazards. There is a substantial probability that there will be some type of uncomfortable weather, like rain, snow, lightning, and so on. Do not forget, you can subscribe to get local weather alerts that will tell you when storms, hail, and other severe weather events are expected to happen in your area.
Severe weather statements will provide up-to-date severe storm information, as well as letting the public know when a severe storm is no longer in effect. This is issued when a severe thunderstorm is indicated by WSR-88D radar, or when a spotter reports that a thunderstorm has produced hail an inch or larger and/or winds of 58 miles per hour or greater; then, persons in the affected areas should immediately seek shelter. If a severe thunderstorm is also producing heavy rainfall, the severe thunderstorm can also be combined with a flash flood warning.
Lightning frequency is not a criteria for issuing a severe thunderstorm warning. One way to be sure you are protected before, during, and after a storm is by tracking it with lightning-spotting technology. Lightning, and the thunder that follows, can be used to keep you and others safe during a lightning event. The electrical boom from a lightning bolt warms up the atmosphere, producing the sound known as thunder.
Thunder is a sound produced by lightning caused by a sudden, violent expansion of super-heated air into and along the path of an electric discharge. It is a combination of water and all of the electricity passing through clouds that produces lightning. Thunder occurs when air is heated up very hot from a lightning bolt.
During thunderstorms, these produce spark-like particles, even in biomes where no lightning strikes. Often, horses group to protect themselves from the elements, and, if the storm includes a lot of rain, will take cover under large trees - usually an inviting target for a lightning bolt. Thunderstorms with an airmass are typically less likely to be violent than other types of storms, but are still able to produce downbursts, short periods of heavy rainfall, and hail larger than 3/4 of an inch across.
Thunderstorms develop when deep cells of moist convection organize and coalesce, then produce rainfall, and eventually lightning and thunder. Most of the rain produced by the storms evaporates to relatively dry air below the storm cells. Cumulonimbus clouds create lightning as their upper parts reach colder air, where ice crystals form.
In areas of clouds that produce flashes of lightning, radar measurements indicate rapid increases in the echo strength, followed by the precipitation of rain on the ground.
Contrary to what you might have heard, lightning can strike in the same spot twice. As many golfers and other outdoor enthusiasts can attest, lightning storms often hit with little or no warning, particularly in warmer months of the year. It is no wonder, either, that the majority of children are terrified of thunderstorms at some point in their lives.
Whether or not you love them, you certainly want to stay safely indoors when one is brewing through your neighborhood. Thunderstorms are not that rare at this time of year, and they underscore an ongoing dilemma of whether to safely shelter your horse in a barn during a lightning storm, or to let them outside.