Rabu, Mei 21, 2008

Disaster from the SKY


People usually talking things from positive way, but now I want to tell some negative (maybe) about SKY.

Fortunately I live in the country where thunderstorm seldom occur ... But what is thunderstorm...?
mmm first let's say that:
  • The typical thunderstorm has a diameter of 15 miles and lasts 30 minutes.
  • Almost 1,800 thunderstorms are occurring at any given moment around the world.
  • All thunderstorms have lightning.
  • A thunderstorm gets classified as severe if winds reach 58 mph or higher, if it produces hail of 3/4 inches in diameter or more, or if it also produces tornadoes.
  • Here are the stages of a thunderstorm (I've been read this a million times, but it's still not stuck in my head...T_T) (maybe this is just about "language comprehension" problem...^^):
    • Developing stage:
      • Warm air rises quickly and makes a big fat cumulus cloud, like a big hump in the sky.
      • The cloud is usually not more than 20,000 feet high.
      • Sometimes it will start to rain at this stage, but only a little bit and maybe for about 10 minutes. There might be some lightning, but not much.
    • Mature stage:
      • The big fat cloud gets really tall, about 40,000 feet or higher. The cloud takes on a sickly green or sometimes even black shade.
      • The warm air is getting cooled pretty fast, and as it cools it condenses, forming rain.
      • Heavy rain falls, which also pushes out strong winds ahead of it. Sometimes the wind is so strong it travels for miles ahead of the storm. This is why when it gets good and windy, you can count on a storm coming.
      • If the air in the cloud pushes high enough and the moisture in the cloud cools enough, the rain turns instead into ice crystals at the top of the cloud. If you get enough air pushing high enough, the ice will fall. In other words, it might hail.
      • At this stage of the storm, you definitely get lightning, booming thunder, and possibly tornadoes.
      • This stage usually lasts 10 to 20 minutes, but in stronger storms, it could last longer.
    • Disspating stage:
      • As the moisture drops out of the cloud, the big knob at the top flattens out, almost like a deflated balloon.
      • Rain is still falling, but it is less intense.
      • Bursts of strong winds may occur as the cloud is basically releasing its air.
      • Some lightning may also happen.
  • Lightning happens because the storm cloud contains warm air that is rising quickly and cool air that is descending. The movement of this air in different directions separates positive and negative charges. When these charges build up enough, the electrical energy is released, making lightning.
  • The average flash from a lightning bolt could light a 100-watt bulb for more than 3 months.
  • The air near a lightning strike is heated to 50,000 degrees F, which is hotter than the surface of the sun.
  • When lightning flashes, it heats the air super-fast. This makes a shock wave in the air that we hear as thunder.
wew... hope U all didn't bored reading this post...>_<"

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