Jake_Thunderstorms_Australia

=__//Thunderstorms Australia //__= media type="youtube" key="RW5ANGctE5E" height="335" width="416" align="left"

media type="youtube" key="ZC6zuMHsYPg" height="364" width="660" align="right" What is some of the damage cause by a Thunderstorm?

Thunderstorms can produce a lot of damage to houses, cars, trees and even people thunderstorm damage isn't really severe. The reason the B.O.M say a "severe thunderstorm" is because it can produce large hail, damaging winds, tornadoes, but lightning can cause fires. There is a few good things that a thunderstorm does, and that is that the lightning can produce nutrition for the plants and grass.

Look at the video of this storm in Brisbane on the 16th of November 2008

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There are many types of lightning some of them are:

Forked Lightning: Second most common type of lightning

Streak Lightning: a bolt that appears to be a single arc shaped line.

Ribbon Lightning: viewed as parallel streaks of light. It is caused when winds separate the strokes of the bolt

Chain Lightning: (also called Bead lightning) is characterized by a bolt that breaks into dotted lines as it fades.

Ball Lightning: appearance is that of a fiery glowing ball (usually in red, yellow, or orange) which floats several feet above the ground. It can be as big as a grapefruit in size. It has also been reported to have been floating within houses and barns. It is unknown why ball lightning occurs and what it is made of

Sheet Lightning: The most common type of lightning seen inside clouds



media type="youtube" key="_EERf0IK82M" height="411" width="673" Thunderstorms usually occur when there is a lot of moisture in the air and when the normal air is being forced up over a mountain or a range or the to create a tornado the air needs to be humid with a cold air being pushed together and the clouds move in a circular direction. In the animation above the video it shows you how lightning is created when the + signs collide with the - signs it creates lightning. However, thunder is created when the clouds with the tiny droplets water that haven't fallen yet crash together and make a loud sound.

To tell how far the storm is when the lightning flashes, count how long it takes until the thunder comes then divide how many seconds it was by 3, also the brighter the lightning the louder the thunder. (eg. 5 divided by 3 = 1 +2r = 1.2k)

The places where thunderstorms cannot be found are places like Antarctica and Greenland because the air is too cold and cannot produce lightning or thunder.

=__//**Hail**//__= Hail is formed when there is a very strong updraft keeping the hail up in the clouds and making it easier for the hail to grow when the supercooled water collides with the frozen droplets

The Hailstorm in Melbourne 6/3/10 in Rowville(one of the hardest hit places)

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Hail In Ferntree Gully(You Can see the hail smash through the roof and though the pool cover!)

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Most people are effected by these storm by, flooding of there houses, large hail smashing windows, roofs and cars. Some people can be killed by thunderstorms. Thunderstorms them self do not do a lot of damage its the hazards that the thunderstorms bring, mostly torrential downpours mainly for north Australia which could last for hours. So people mainly prepare for sever storms by sandbagging there homes, moving there cars undercover, taking any loose items in there backyards inside and cleaning out there gutters and around there homes to prevent lightning from starting a fire. Also Never take a shower or bath during a storm!

__**Damage to the environment!**__ Thunderstorms don't do too much damage to the environment. The most severe damage to the environment is lightning strikes causing a fire and leaving animals and people in danger

It is mainly wind gusts and flood that damage the environment. Wind throws rubbish and debris around and into oceans which animals will eat, and floods make animals leave there homes and also drown some.

By Jake Romano 8a :)

Bibliography!

Info: Most information got from books http://www.eoearth.org/article/Thunderstorm

http://www.bom.gov.au/info/thunder/

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