Can you sort these characteristics into the correct type of storms if you come across them on the test Monday??

Thunderstorm

· A disturbance that can have lightning, thunder, gusty winds, heavy rain, and hail
· A severe thunderstorm can produce golf ball sized hail, flash flooding, and even tornadoes
· Most occur in spring and summer months during the warmest part of the day
· Can cover an area of 5-10 miles
· If temperature in thundercloud falls below freezing, rain can turn into hail
· At any moment 1500 to 2000 storms can occur on the earth, which can trigger 6000 lightning flashes per minute
Tornadoes

· A tornado is a rotating column of air that forms from thunderstorms over dry land under special conditions: when moist warm air meets cool dry air head on.
· The US has more tornadoes than any other country in the world.
· Most tornadoes happen in “Tornado Alley”-An area that is in the Central Plains between the Rocky Mountains and Mississippi River.
· 75% of tornadoes develop from March to July during the late afternoon.
· May normally has the most tornadoes (5 per day).
· The most violent tornadoes usually occur in April.
· The diameter of most tornadoes is between 100-600 meters, but can range from a few meters wide to up to 1 mile (1600 meters).
· Tornadoes can move up to 62 mph (100 kph).
· A tornado vortex can contain winds that move up to 217 mph (350 kph).
· Most of the tornado’s destructive power comes from its strong winds
· Japanese born meteorologist Tetsuya Fujita developed the scale that we use to measure or classify tornadoes based on the damage that they cause.

Hurricanes
· Massive rotating storms that form when warm, moist air rises over tropical waters.
· Called a hurricane when it forms north of the equator in the Atlantic and Pacific Oceans.
· Called a typhoon when if forms north of the equator in the Western Pacific Ocean.
· Called a cyclone when it forms in the Indian Ocean and off the coast of Australia.
· Usually 342 miles in diameter.
· Gets most of its energy from warm ocean water beneath it.
· Hurricanes can move at speeds of 5-15 miles per hour.
· Hurricanes begin as tropical storms, but turn into hurricanes when wind speeds reach 74 mph.
· Hurricanes have wind speeds of 74 to 155 mph.
· Names are selected from library sources and agreed on at meetings of the World Meteorological Organization.

Saffir/Simpson Hurricane Scale