Transcription
There are different breeds of thunderstorms, each with their own characteristics. There are single-celled storms, often weak and short-lived. Multi-celled storms, sporadic and unorganized, and and squalls organizing into dramatic lines. They can stretch hundreds of miles.
But the mother of all thunder storms is the supercell. Supercells are the least common mode of storms, and their defining character is a deep, persistently rotating updraft called a mesocyclone. Super cells are often referred to as rotating thunderstorms. This rotating nature enables them to generate torrential rainfall and severe winds, intense and continuous lightning activity, enormous hail. And it's super cells that are responsible for producing the majority of the world's violent tornadoes.
Supercells can occur all over the world, but in one location they turn up with alarming frequency: Tornado alley in the United States. Fewer than 30 percent of super cells produce tornadoes, and scientists are still trying to understand why one supercell produces violet tornadoes and another does not.
Supercells come in three different classifications: the low precipitation supercell or LP, the classic supercell, and the high precipitation supercell or HP, where heavy rainfall shroud much of the internal storm structure. They often form as one mode and transition to another.
Once a supercell is on the roll, it can dominate the atmosphere, persisting for hours and hours. Sometimes the atmosphere generates mixed modes: storms with characteristics of other storm types, squalls with super cells embedded in their lines, or hybrid cells with both the squall and supercell structures. No two super cells are exactly the same.
With their explosive energy and wind shear sculpted beauty, being in their presence can be captivating or terrifying, or both. They are a dream scenario for nature photographers, and time-lapse photography truly captures their beauty. The mesocyclone twists the supercell into dramatic sky scapes. A storm that resembles stacked plates, with tiers like upside down wedding cake, or the alien invading mothership. With the most powerful supercells, time-lapse photography isn't necessary to capture their intense churning. The clouds move so fast the storm doesn't appear from this world.