Precipitation
A thunderstorm breaks
The main atmospheric phenomenon associated with a thunderstorm is surely the rain, that often arrives in the form a sudden violent downpour. It has been calculated that only 20% of the humidity accumulated in the thundercloud is actually returned in the form of rain. Often precipitation may take the form of hail, that forms when the temperatures inside the cloud allow the formation of ice crystals.
Also the wind is a phenomenon that can have a particularly violent nature during a storm, and it can evolve, at times, into a tornado or hurricane.
Surely the most impressive phenomenon of a thunderstorm is the lightning, electric discharges that are produced within the cloud, between different clouds, and between the clouds and the ground. Thunder is the “noise” produced by the movement of air provoked by the electric discharge and therefore is only a “collateral” manifestation.
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