Tucson Monsoon – The Sonora Desert Storms

Technically speaking, a thunderstorm (a.k.a. an 'electrical storm) is a weather type that is characterized by lightning and the thunder it creates. Rainfall or snowfall is not necessary for a weather situation to be dubbed a thunderstorm. It is more the rule than the exception that heavy rains or snows come with a thunderstorm. On occasion, thunderstorms also bring with them hail and tornadoes. Florida has more thunderstorms than anywhere else in the United States, but the most violent thunderstorms occur in the Midwest.

Roughly 10,000,000 (ten million) kilowatt-hours of energy are released by an average thunderstorm. A severe thunderstorm can easily unleash a force that is 10 to 100 times greater! Obviously, thunderstorms are nothing to take too lightly.

Thunderstorms are categorized into four primary types:
1 - single cell
2 – multicell
3 - squall line
4 - supercell

There are also several kinds of lightning:
In-Cloud Lightning. Most common form of lightning – it stays within the cloud.
Cloud to Ground Lightning. What is most often seen, this is when lightning strikes the ground. The lightning can be visible for some time.
Ground to Cloud Lightning. This rare type of lightning finds the bolt of lightning starts on the ground and goes to a cloud.
Cloud to Cloud Lightning. This is also a rare form of lightning. Though rarely viewed, it is quite eye-catching and often spectacular.
Ball Lightning. Nobody understands this rarest of lightning types. Simply stated, a ball (instead of a bolt) of lightning anywhere from 8" to abut 7' in diameter behaves just as cloud to ground lightning does.
Cloud to Air Lightning. is when lightning from a cloud hits air of a different charge.

A thunderstorm's life consists of three stages: cumulus, mature, and dissipation. The cumulus stage is the most innocent, and least noticeable. It is the birth of the storm. The mature stage is when the power of the storm builds by virtue of moisture and temperature: hot air rises, cold air descends – moisture forms in the lower barometric pressures. This stage is often accompanied by lightning and high winds. During the dissipation stage, the effects of the storm are most prominently seen and felt. This includes the moisture falling in whatever form it takes, the lightning, and the thunder.

Thunderstorms are violent natural phenomenon. As such, they have affected the development of the planet, and its various cultures as far back as recorded history can show. It was once believed, for example, that the bolts of lightning produced by the electrical currents of storms were actually made by the Roman god Vulcan. Vulcan would make the massive, destructive weapons for the god Jupiter to hurl down to the earth – wherever he felt they were 'needed.'

In closing, here are the ten worst storms recorded in US history:

#10 – Agnes (Florida to New York). Date: June 1972. Deaths: 129.
#9 – "Ash Wednesday" Storm. Date: March 1962. Deaths: 30.
#8 – "Appalachian Storm". Date: November 1950. Deaths: 160.
#7 – "Tri-State" Tornado. Date: 1925. Deaths: 695.
#6 – Hurricane Camille. Date: August 1969. Deaths: 256. (winds over 200 mph)
#5 – "Great New England" Hurricane. Date: 1938. Deaths: 700.
#4 – Galveston Hurricane. Date: 1900. Deaths: 8,000+.
#3 – Superstorm. Date: March 1993. Deaths: 270.
#2 – Tornado Superoutbreak. Date: 1974. Deaths: 315. (148 tornadoes in a row.)
#1 – Labor Day Hurricane. Date: 1935. Deaths: 423. This was a category 5 Hurricane with winds speeds in excess of 200 mph. This storm cell also developed the lowest barometric pressure reading ever recorded.