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Rain and Thunder
Name: David C.
Status: other
Age: 40s
Location: N/A
Country: N/A
Date: 2001
Question:
I have always wondered why it oftentimes seems to rain
harder immediately following a thunderclap. After reading explanations of
the water-producing thermodynamic possibilities in the questions-answered
section, it occurred to me to ask. Does rain get shaken out of the
atmosphere, is it thermodynamically produced, or is it just coincidence
that the rain falls more densely after the thunder? Thanks.
Replies:
Dear David-
The observation that the heaviest rain occurs after thunder is mostly
coincidental. The heaviest rain in a thunderstorm does fall near the
strongest updraft part of the storm, and this is also where the lightning
and thunder is produced. So it is likely that thunder may be heard during
the heaviest rainfall in a thunderstorm.
Wendell Bechtold, meteorologist
Forecaster, National Weather Service
Weather Forecast Office, St. Louis, MO
David,
The heavier rain after or just about the time
of more frequent lightning is probably not a
coincidence. Research on lightning
frequency and rainfall suggests that the action
of hydrometeors (rain and hail) being carried
around in the thunderstorm (in updrafts as well as
downdrafts) creates electrical charge buildup in
the clouds. The more active the storm and the
more hydrometeors there are, the more electric
charge is built up and the more frequent the
lightning is. The more hydrometeors there are,
the greater the likelihood of heavy precipitation,
although it may occur after most of the lightning,
as a downdraft has to set up or the updrafts decline
to allow the hydrometeors to fall towards the ground.
David R. Cook
Atmospheric Research Section
Environmental Research Division
Argonne National Laboratory
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Update: June 2012
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