What is a thunderstorm and how it forms

A thunderstorm is an extreme weather event that occurs when moisture and unstable air rises quickly from the ground. As the sun heats up the air above the ground during summer, sometimes this warm air is forced upwards quickly. Since hot air is less dense than cold air, it will continue to rise until it reaches the higher parts of the atmosphere in a process known as convection.

The water vapors carried by the hot air eventually cools down, releases the heat, condenses and forms clouds. As the clouds continue to grow, they eventually rise to areas with below-freezing temperatures.

As a bonus, thunderstorms, which usually form all the time when it rains during summer, form when two ice particles in the upper atmosphere collide. As these particles collide, usually they just bounce from one another, but sometimes they can chip away some of their mass, creating an electric charge. When enough particles hit and bruise each other, an electric bolt forms, hence a thunderstorm emerges.

The sound waves created by the rapid movement of these bolts are what we perceive as a thunder.

Thunderstorms have three stages in their lifecycle, which during summer happen very quickly, in part because of the hot air near the ground. These three stages are the developing stage, the mature stage and the dissipating stage.

When talking about thunderstorms, these can come in different forms or can bring additional natural disasters with them. For example, a hail storm can also occur when certain conditions are met, but we'll talk about this in another article on extreme weather events. Speaking of hail, whenever hail is known to form or when winds are expected to hit speeds in excess of 92 kilometers per hour, a severe storm alert is usually issued by authorities.

Cyclones, typhons and monsoons are also a kind of thunderstorm, with a twist, no pun intended, and their name usually differs from one region to another.

Since thunderstorms are naturally-occurring phenomena, we can't prevent them from happening, but there are measures we can take to reduce their frequency.

The best way to prevent large number of thunderstorms from happening is lowering the overall temperatures, which can be achieved by cutting the greenhouse gas emissions we output. This means decarbonizing energy, transport and various industries, which will lower pollution and keep temperatures under control.

The warmer the air, the more unstable the atmosphere becomes and the more frequent and violent thunderstorms will become.

How to prepare for a thunderstorm

While we can't fight nature's will, there are certain things we can do to prepare for a thunderstorm, especially if we live in an area which is prone to these events.

Starting with the basics, make sure that you don't leave lightweight objects outside in your yard or balcony, especially during thunderstorm season, which in Romania for example happens around mid to late-July. Whatever feels like it can be blown and thrown around, either take it inside or anchor it to something solid.

Very important to prevent severe damage to your house, infrastructure or even worse, death, is trimming the trees. Unfortunately, some municipalities completely ignore this and leave trees expand uncontrollably, as well as even let them dry up, which poses a great danger for passers-by and even for our buildings. A large tree can destroy windows, roofs and even cause extensive damage to the walls, if it falls.

Constantly check the weather application on your smartphone and other weather services that might issue alerts for thunderstorm emergencies, as they can give you a couple of minutes of head start to get everything in place and brace for the storm.

Last, but not least, make sure that your windows are properly closed and sealed to prevent water from reaching inside and the wind from smashing them. It might seem trivial, but it can happen to the best of us to forget a window open, only to come back to a shattering reality.

Since we can't really control them and they can be quite difficult to predict until they formed, it's important to take precautions when preparing for thunderstorms. A thunderstorm is usually pretty uneventful if your house is in check and if there are no suspicious-looking trees around your home.