Thunderstorms

All thunderstorms require two main ingredients for their formation:

* Moisture and
* Rapidly rising air

The trademark of a strong thunderstorm (cumulonimbus cloud) is the overshooting top, a “cauliflower-like” cloud structure extending above the storm like a dome. Overshooting tops are easy to see on satellite images and happen above the strongest updraft in a thunderstorm. This is the place where severe weather is most likely to develop at the surface. There are several overshooting tops in this satellite loop tracking thunderstorms during the late afternoon. (Can you see how it gets darker on the east coast as the sun starts to set?) A National Weather Service meteorologist could issue a severe thunderstorm warning based on a visible satellite image alone if an overshooting top was present.