Definition of thunderhead
: a rounded mass of cumulus or cumulonimbus cloud often appearing before a thunderstorm.
What is a thunderhead and how does it form?
This cloud formation forms when a front of cool air meets a body of hot, moist air. Thunderheads can form alone, in clusters, or along a cold front in a squall line. They can develop into a supercell thunderstorm, and can spew out high winds, hail, lightening and tornados.
What causes a thunderhead?
Cumulonimbus clouds are also known as thunderheads due to their unique mushroom shape. These clouds often produce lightning in their heart. This is caused by ionized droplets in the clouds rubbing against each other. The static charge built up create lightning.
What are thunderhead clouds?
Cumulonimbus clouds are menacing looking multi-level clouds, extending high into the sky in towers or plumes. More commonly known as thunderclouds, cumulonimbus is the only cloud type that can produce hail, thunder and lightning.
What is another name for Thunderhead?
cumulonimbus. the upper portion of a cumulus cloud characterized by dense, sharply defined, cauliflowerlike upper parts and sometimes by great verticality.
Is dunderhead a real word?
Dunderhead is a more colorful way to say “dummy” or “stupid.” It’s derogatory, but not the meanest word for someone making a really foolish move: “You dunderhead!” tends to sound a little bit amused. … The origin isn’t certain, though the dunder part may come from the Middle Dutch word donder, or “thunder.”
Do altostratus clouds rain?
Altostratus clouds are “strato” type clouds (see below) that possess a flat and uniform type texture in the mid levels. … However, altostratus clouds themselves do not produce significant precipitation at the surface, although sprinkles or occasionally light showers may occur from a thick alto- stratus deck.
Is thunder caused by clouds crashing together?
Answer. Thunder is caused by the rapid expansion of the air surrounding the path of a lightning bolt. … As lightning connects to the ground from the clouds, a second stroke of lightning will return from the ground to the clouds, following the same channel as the first strike.
What does the Thunderhead look like?
Called cumulonimbus or thunderheads, they’re the most dramatic looking clouds with their tall and imposing shape. … The mature cumulonimbus cloud has a distinctive flat, anvil shaped top which is formed when the their tops encounter high winds, which cause them to spread out sideways.
How heavy is a thunderhead?
A good sized cumulonimbus cloud (also known as a thunderhead) might be ten kilometers tall, with a base ten kilometers in diameter. Estimating that, we come up with a volume of 785 billion cubic meters per cloud. This gives us a mass of roughly four billion kilograms per cloud.
How high is the top of a thunderhead?
Thunderhead Mountain | |
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Easiest route | Lead Cove Trail, Bote Mountain Trail and Appalachian Trail |
Do wall clouds produce tornadoes?
Wall clouds are often associated with tornadic thunderstorms but not always, and many wall clouds do not rotate. … This low-hanging cloud brings the base closer to the ground which aids tornado development. When rotation is present, funnels or tornadoes can drop from them.
What is the rarest cloud?
Kelvin Helmholtz Waves are perhaps the rarest cloud formation of all. Rumored to be the inspiration for Van Gogh’s masterpiece “Starry Night”, they are incredibly distinctive. They are mainly associated with cirrus, altocumulus, and stratus clouds over 5,000m.
What weather does stratocumulus clouds bring?
Most often, stratocumulus produce no precipitation, and when they do, it is generally only light rain or snow. However, these clouds are often seen at either the front or tail end of worse weather, so they may indicate storms to come, in the form of thunderheads or gusty winds.
What is the biggest cloud in the world?
Noctilucent clouds are composed of tiny crystals of water ice up to 100 nm in diameter and exist at a height of about 76 to 85 km (249,000 to 279,000 ft), higher than any other clouds in Earth’s atmosphere.
What does Modernness mean?
Definitions of modernness. the quality of being current or of the present. synonyms: contemporaneity, contemporaneousness, modernism, modernity. type of: currency, currentness, up-to-dateness. the property of belonging to the present time.
Is Gilted a word?
adjective. Gilded; = “gilt”.
What does Dunda head mean?
British Dictionary definitions for dunderhead
dunderhead. / (ˈdʌndəˌhɛd) / noun. a stupid or slow-witted person; dunceAlso called: dunderpate.
What does dunce face mean?
: a slow-witted or stupid person.
What does dunderhead mean in Scottish?
/ˈdʌndərhed/ (informal) a silly or stupid person.
Are stratus clouds high or low?
Stratus clouds are low-level layers with a fairly uniform grey or white colour. Often the scene of dull, overcast days in its ‘nebulosus’ form, they can persist for long periods of time. They are the lowest-lying cloud type and sometimes appear at the surface in the form of mist or fog.
What do wispy clouds mean?
Near the ground, Cumulonimbus are well defined, but higher up they start to look wispy at the edges. This transition indicates that the cloud is no longer made of water droplets, but ice crystals. … On the other hand, ice crystals carried outside the cloud do not quickly evaporate, giving a wispy appearance.
What does a stratus cloud look like?
Stratus: Stratus clouds hang low in the sky as a flat, featureless, uniform layer of grayish cloud. It resembles fog that hugs the horizon (instead of the ground). When You’ll See It: Stratus are seen on dreary overcast days and are associated with light mist or drizzle.
Why does thunder shake the house?
Why does the house shake when there is a thunder storm? Your house will shake depending the closeness of the lightning. Thunder is a sonic boom that comes from the rapid heating of the air around a lightning strike. Sonic booms cause massive shaking to nearby objects (your house).
Can there be thunder without lightning?
No, it is not possible to have thunder without lightning. Thunder starts as a shockwave from the explosively expanding lightning channel when a large current causes rapid heating. However, it is possible that you might see lightning and not hear the thunder because it was too far away. … Thunder is caused by lightning.
What happens when two clouds clash?
It’s so cold high up in the sky that ice crystals start to form inside the clouds. Then the ice crystals move to the top of the cloud and the water droplets stay near the bottom of the cloud. When they move past each other and rub against each other, they make static electricity.
Does the Thunderhead love Greyson?
The Thunderhead loved Greyson, but he did not appear to return those feelings. Throughout its life, the Thunderhead had always watched Greyson sleep and wished that it could embrace him. On multiple occasions, the Thunderhead indirectly warned Greyson of danger and saved his, and other people’s lives.
What does a scythes ring look like?
Scythe rings were made of special diamonds with dark cores. Kissing a ring would grant immunity to a person for one year, and if those with immunity should find themselves about to be gleaned during that time, the rings of nearby scythes would flash red.
Who are the characters in Thunderhead?
- Citra Terranova (Scythe Anastasia)
- Scythe Goddard.
- Scythe Curie.
How much water is in a thunderhead?
A giant thunderhead may contain more than two billion pounds of water, but even a modest-sized cloud may contain water equivalent to the mass of a 747 jet.
Can you sit on a cloud?
The higher it goes, the more it cools, until eventually the water vapor condenses back into liquid water. Clouds are made of millions of these tiny liquid water droplets. … Even though they can look like cushy puffballs, a cloud can’t support your weight or hold anything up but itself.
Can you touch a cloud?
Well, the simple answer is yes, but we will get into it. Clouds look like they would be fluffy and fun to play in, but they are actually made of trillions “cloud droplets”. … Nonetheless, if you were to be able to touch a cloud, it wouldn’t really feel like anything, just a little wet.
What is the highest thunderstorm?
Intense thunderstorms have updrafts strong enough to punch through the tropopause, and the tops of such storms can grow to 65,000 feet. The world’s tallest thunderstorms, over the western equatorial Pacific where the tropopause tends to be highest, have been measured at nearly 14 miles high with tops to 75,000 feet.
What are tornado clouds called?
A tornado is often made visible by a distinctive funnel-shaped cloud. Commonly called the condensation funnel, the funnel cloud is a tapered column of water droplets that extends downward from the base of the parent cloud. It is commonly mixed with and perhaps enveloped by dust and debris lifted from the surface.
Where are storm clouds the tallest?
The tallest thunderstorms on Earth form in the tropics where tops have been measured to about 75,000 feet — more than 14 miles into the atmosphere.
What is a tornado that doesn’t touch the ground called?
If it does not reach the ground, then it is called a funnel cloud. If it does reach the ground, it’s a tornado. Debris and dust are kicked up where the narrow end of the funnel touches the ground.
Do scud clouds rotate?
In actuality, these clouds are just smaller bits of condensation that aren’t attached to the higher layers of thick cumulonimbus storm clouds. They form most often when cool, moist wind meets the warm air ahead of a thunderstorm. Scud clouds are usually harmless. The key is rotation, and scuds do not rotate.
What is a sideways tornado called?
This harmless phenomenon, called a roll cloud, forms where cold air drives low-hanging, moist warm air upward. Cooler temperatures condense the moisture to form clouds. Winds create the rolling effect. By Stephanie Pappas, LiveScience on March 16, 2012.
What is the prettiest cloud?
- Nacreous Clouds. Often known as Mother of Pearl clouds, nacreous clouds are an extremely rare sight. …
- Mammatus Clouds. …
- Cirrus Kelvin-Helmholtz Wave Clouds. …
- Lenticular Clouds. …
- Roll Clouds. …
- Undulatus Asperatus Clouds.
What happens when you fly through a cloud?
Flying an airplane through most clouds is similar to driving through fog. You can’t see as well as before but apart from that everything else is the same. … It is just water vapor, no different than experiencing fog on the ground. However if it is what is called towering cumulus clouds, then turbulence will happen.
Can Planes crash into clouds?
It is often said that the turbulence can be extreme enough inside a cumulonimbus to tear an aircraft into pieces. However, this kind of accident is relatively rare. … Cumulonimbus can be extremely insidious, and an inattentive pilot can end up in a very dangerous situation while flying in apparently very calm air.