2006-07-22 00:58:31 · 13 answers · asked by AdamB 1 in Science & Mathematics ➔ Weather
Hot weather causes lots of surface water to evaporate into the atmosphere. But air can only hold that much water while it's hot. Cooler air can't hold that much water, so when the air cools, the water has to fall out as rain.
Whether lightning is part of the rainfall is a question of how much energy is in the atmosphere to generate static electricity. Hot surface temps create strong updrafts and lots of air turbulence. The air and water molecules rubbing together in that turbulence creates static electricity, the source of lightning.
2006-07-22 01:38:41 · answer #1 · answered by Luis 4 · 12⤊ 3⤋
Lightning is an electrical discharge mostly from the clouds to the ground. Electrically charged particles emitted from the sun gather in the clouds during periods of high pressure, and pressure causes heat (you may notice the air can get hot and sticky before a thunderstorm as the pressure is building). When there are lots of particles, they have to discharge to the ground.
Thunder is the shockwave produced when the electric spark travels through the air. It is so hot that the aire is ripped apart, creating a boom. This is the second reason that thunder follows lightning (For reason 1, compare speed of sound with speed of light).
After the particles are cleared, the pressure drops creating cooler conditions.
2006-07-22 01:15:42 · answer #2 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 0⤋
Something to do with the humidity i think. After been hot for so long a good thunderstorm clears the air for more nice weather. Its gotta be hot next week, wayhey!!
2006-07-22 01:02:04 · answer #3 · answered by CrayzeeKat 3 · 0⤊ 0⤋
Why is there usally a cold season after a thunderstorm?
2006-07-22 01:05:53 · answer #4 · answered by Vipul C 3 · 0⤊ 0⤋
As the hot humid air rises it cools. This causes condensation and it falls back to the earth as precipitation.
If it rises quickly and cools quickly you can get hail as the raindrops stay aloft due to convection currents rising.
The lightning is between positive and negative potential that reaches a critical value.
Thunder comes from the air being heated very rapidly so that it expands faster than the speed of sound.
2006-07-22 02:59:25 · answer #5 · answered by beedaduck 3 · 0⤊ 0⤋
The humidity in the air flows upward creating convection. This in turn creates clouds that rise which reach the upper limits of our atmosphere. When this happens the hot air and cold air converge, thus creating imbalance within the cloud. We call this negative/positive ions. These imbalances create lightning and rain. Hope this helps, it was a well thought out guess.
2006-07-22 02:01:47 · answer #6 · answered by ndvsne1 4 · 0⤊ 0⤋
a thunderstorm happens when cold & warm fronts meet ... so when the weather has been really hot & a cold front comes through, there's a storm
2006-07-22 01:03:23 · answer #7 · answered by mom1025 5 · 0⤊ 0⤋
thunderstorms are caused when a cold front meets a warm front so yes they are usually after hot wearther and thus why it tends to cool down and become fresher after one........
you may have heard people say "we need a storm to clear the air"
2006-07-22 01:04:32 · answer #8 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 0⤋
the thunderstorms clear the air so it can carry on being hot
2006-07-22 02:49:49 · answer #9 · answered by tiger dolphin 2 · 0⤊ 0⤋
the hot air rises up an meets the cold air above the clouds ,an that why it happens wen things start to cool down x
2006-07-22 03:31:16 · answer #10 · answered by cuddlybunnyjean 2 · 0⤊ 0⤋