Thunderstorms

Rising air, hail and lightning

An interactive lesson with 6 steps, about 5 minutes: you predict, drag and solve, with instant feedback on every answer. It runs in your browser and needs JavaScript.

What you’ll learn

• Ideal updraft speed $w = \sqrt{2\,\text{CAPE}}$.
• Divide the flash-to-bang seconds by 3 for kilometres.
• Hail grows in layers on trips through strong updrafts.

Steps

1. Fuel for storms
2. Strong enough for hail
3. Counting to thunder
4. How hail grows
5. Energy in a storm
6. Hotter than the Sun