Life Cycle of a Thunderstorm

1 min read · NOAA National Weather Service — JetStream

The building block of all thunderstorms is the thunderstorm cell. The thunderstorm cell has a distinct life-cycle that lasts about 30 minutes.

The Towering Cumulus Stage

A cumulus cloud begins to grow vertically, perhaps to a height of 20,000 feet (6 km). Air within the cloud is dominated by upwardly-moving, warm, moist air currents called updrafts with some turbulent eddies around the edges.

An illustration of towering cumulus. — NOAA / National Weather Service

The Mature Cumulus Stage

The storm has considerable depth, often reaching 40,000 to 60,000 feet (12 to 18 km). Strong updrafts and downdrafts coexist. This is the most dangerous stage, when tornadoes, large hail, damaging winds, and flash flooding may occur.

An example of mature Cumulonimbus. — NOAA / National Weather Service

An illustration of mature Cumulonimbus. Red arrows indicate updrafts, blue arrows indicate downdrafts.NOAA / National Weather Service

The Dissipating Stage

The downdraft cuts off the updraft. The storm no longer has a supply of warm moist air to maintain itself and, therefore, dissipates. Light rain and weak outflow winds may remain for a while during this stage before leaving behind just a remnant anvil top.

An illustration of the dissipating stage. — NOAA / National Weather Service

Learning Lesson: How much water is in that cloud?

Public domain — a work of the U.S. federal government, 17 U.S.C. § 105. Reproduced in full from NOAA National Weather Service — JetStream. StormSync Academy is not affiliated with NOAA or the National Weather Service.

← Ingredients for a Thunderstorm Notable Derechos →