Small rising column of air due to surface heating.

– In reference to the (in)stability of the atmosphere. Important thermodynamic information includes lapse rates, CAPE, changes in temperature / moisture with height, and cap strength.

The sound wave produced as a lightning stroke heats the air causing it to rapidly expand.

(TS, TSRA, TSTM)

– A violent rotating column of air, usually forming a pendant from a cumulonimbus cloud with the circulation reaching the ground. It nearly always starts as a funnel cloud and may be accompanied by a loud roaring noise. On a local scale, it is the most destructive of all atmospheric phenomena.

-Precipitation amounts less than 0.01″.

– Persistent tropical winds that blow from the subtropical high pressure centers towards the equatorial low.

– Tropical mass of thunderstorms with a cyclonic wind circulation and winds between 20 and 34 knots.