Severe Thunderstorm Safety

What Is A Thunderstorm?

According to the National Severe Storms Laboratory, "a thunderstorm is a rain shower during which you hear thunder." Because thunder is created from lightning, this means that all thunderstorms will contain lightning.

What is a Severe Thunderstorm?

Any thunderstorm that is considered severe will contain hail at least 1 inch in diameter, winds gusting at 58 M.P.H. or greater, or a tornado. While the classification for severe thunderstorms only require one of these criterion, many storms will have one or more of the above.

Thunderstorm Safety

Thunderstorms always pose a hazard via lightning, which every storm has. Please visit our lightning safety page for more information about lightning and lightning safety by clicking here. Above lightning, there is also risk of injury due to high winds, hail, heavy rain, and flooding. Below are ways you can stay safe during thunderstorms:

First and foremost keep an eye on the weather.
When thunder roars, go indoors! If you hear thunder, you are close enough to get hit my lightning. Make sure you are inside a full building. Pavilions and other non fully enclosed structures will not protect you.
Postpone outside activities and reschedule.
Do not use corded phones or other electronic devices.
If caught outside, do not stand in open areas or by isolated tall objects. You do not want to be the tallest object in an open area.
Stay away from windows. Strong winds or hail can cause them to break.
Severe storms can also produce tornados with little to no warning. Keep a lookout and go into a basement. If no basement is available, go to the lowest level and into an interior room or bathroom.

Hail

Stronger thunderstorms contain hail. Hail is caused by water droplets rising in the updraft of a storm. Once they reach a certain level they start to freeze and get larger until they can no longer be supported by the updraft. This is when they fall to the ground. Hail is larger than sleet and falls only during thunderstorms.

Hail falls in various sizes depending on the severity of the storm. Larger hail can cause damage to cars, windows, roofs, and other structures. Hail can also cause serious injury or death as they can be large size and can fall at speeds of 100 M.P.H. or greater.

Thunderstorm Facts

Thunderstorms may occur in a cluster, as a single storm, or a line of storms.
Some of the most severe storms occur when a single storm affects one area for an extended period of time.
Thunderstorms can produce heavy rain within a half hour or longer.
Warm and humid conditions are the best for thunderstorm development.
Around 10 percent of storms are classified as severe.

References (Click for more information):
http://www.nssl.noaa.gov/education/svrwx101/thunderstorms
www.ready.gov/thunderstorms-lightning.html
www.lightningsafety.noaa.gov/