PUFF THE WEATHER CLOUD SAYS:Let me check the sky… ☁️
🎬 How a Storm Makes Lightning tap Next!
Warm, wet air rises
On a hot, sticky day, the sun warms the ground. Warm air full of water floats up, up, up, like a hot-air balloon. ☀️
🔬 How Storms and Lightning Form
🍲 The storm recipe: 3 ingredients
Water in the air
Lots of invisible water vapor, from oceans, lakes, plants and wet ground. That makes the air feel sticky.
Warm air near the ground
When the ground is warm and the air high up is cold, warm air bubbles up fast, like bubbles in a pot of soup.
A push upward
Something gives the air a lift: the sun heating the ground, air sliding up a mountain, or a cold front pushing under warm air.
⏳ A storm's life
1. Growing
Warm air rushes up and the cloud grows taller and taller, like a giant cauliflower. No rain yet!
2. Full power
The cloud reaches way up, where air spreads out into a flat "anvil" top. Rain, hail, lightning and thunder all happen now.
3. Fading
Cold rain-cooled air falls and stops the warm air from rising. The storm runs out of fuel and rains itself out. A storm usually lasts about 30 minutes.
⚡ How a lightning bolt is made tap Next!
Charges split up
Inside the cloud, tiny light ice crystals get blown to the top and become positive (+). Heavier soft hail (called graupel) sinks to the bottom and becomes negative (−).
Why thunder rumbles
Lightning heats the air to about 30,000 °C (54,000 °F) in a split second. The air bursts outward and makes a sound wave: CRACK! A bolt is miles long, so the sound from its near and far parts reaches you at different times. That stretches the crack into a long rumble.
🌩️ Kinds of lightning
Cloud to ground
The kind that strikes the ground. It's the most dangerous kind.
Inside a cloud
Most lightning never leaves the cloud. It just lights it up from inside!
Cloud to cloud
Lightning can jump from one cloud to another across the sky.
⏱️ How Far Away Is the Storm? play
Tap ⚡ when you see the flash, then 💥 when you hear the boom. Puff counts the seconds and works out how far away the storm is. No storm today? Practice with a pretend one!
0.0 s
🦺 Storm Safety Squad
When thunder roars, go indoors! If you can hear thunder, lightning is close enough to reach you.
Safe places: a big building, or a car with a hard roof and the windows closed.
Not safe: under a tree, in an open field, on a playground, or in a pool, lake or the sea.
After the last thunder, wait 30 minutes before going back outside.
Inside, skip baths and showers until the storm passes, and stay away from windows.
Stay with a grown-up and keep calm. Storms are loud, but inside you're safe!
🌦️ Storm Weather
Hot, sticky days
Storms love warm, humid air. That's why they often pop up on summer afternoons.
Hail
Strong winds inside a storm cloud toss ice balls up and down until they get heavy and fall as hail.
Heavy rain
Storms can drop lots of rain fast, making big puddles and sometimes floods. Never play in flood water.
Gusty winds
A storm can push down a blast of cold, windy air just before the rain arrives.
🧪 Try It at Home with a grown-up
Make tiny lightning
Rub a balloon on your hair or a wool sweater, then slowly bring it near a metal doorknob in a dark room. Did you see a tiny spark? That's the same kind of electricity as lightning, just super small!
Storm cloud in a jar
Fill a jar with water and top it with a fluffy "cloud" of shaving foam. With a grown-up, drip colored water onto the foam. When the cloud gets too full, it "rains" down into the jar!
Count the storm
Next storm, from inside with a grown-up, count the seconds from the flash to the boom. Divide by 5 for miles (or by 3 for kilometers). Is the storm coming closer? Always count from inside, never outdoors.
🤩 Wow Facts
A lightning bolt is about five times hotter than the surface of the sun!
Lightning flashes about 40 to 50 times every second somewhere on Earth.
Lightning can strike the same place twice. Very tall buildings get hit many times every year!