Thunderstorms are one of the most dynamic weather phenomena affecting aviation, with substantial implications for flight safety, comfort, and operations. They are powerful weather systems that can produce strong winds, lightning, heavy rain, hail, and turbulence. Understanding the nature of thunderstorms, their development, and their potential impacts on aircraft is essential for pilots, airlines and flight planners. Let’s take a closer look at how they are formed and the reasons we actively avoid them.
What are thunderstorms?
A thunderstorm is a weather system characterized by the presence of cumulonimbus clouds and is associated with heavy precipitation, thunder, and lightning. Thunderstorms occur due to unstable atmospheric conditions, where warm, moist air rapidly rises and cools, forming clouds and releasing large amounts of energy. This process can lead to rapid vertical air movement, which contributes to the intensity of thunderstorms.
How is a thunderstorm created?
Three key elements are required for a thunderstorm to form:
- Moisture: Humid air provides the necessary water vapor that condenses into clouds and precipitation.
- Instability: An unstable atmosphere allows warm air to rise quickly and cool, promoting cloud formation. The air is typically unstable when the temperature drops quickly with altitude.
- A “Lifting Mechanism”: Some initial force, like a front, orographic lifting (air forced upward by terrain), or differential heating of the Earth’s surface, is required to lift the warm, moist air into cooler layers of the atmosphere.
These conditions are most commonly met in the afternoon and early evening when surface temperatures are highest, though thunderstorms can occur at any time under the right conditions.
The life cycle of a thunderstorm
Thunderstorms evolve through three distinct stages: the cumulus stage, the mature stage, and the dissipating stage.
- Cumulus Stage – In this initial stage, warm, moist air rises, creating updrafts. As the air rises, it cools and condenses into cumulus clouds. This process releases latent heat, further fueling the updraft and allowing the cloud to grow vertically. During this stage, there is little precipitation, but the cloud continues to grow as the updraft strengthens.
- Mature Stage – This is the most intense phase of the thunderstorm. The cloud has grown into a towering cumulonimbus, reaching heights of up to 12,000 meters or more. Both updrafts and downdrafts are present. As the rising air cools, precipitation forms, and eventually, the weight of raindrops overcomes the updraft, initiating a downdraft. Rain, hail, and gusty winds reach the ground, and lightning and thunder are frequent as electrical charges build up in the cloud. This stage is also when turbulence and wind shear can be severe, posing significant risks to aircraft.
- Dissipating Stage – In the final stage, downdrafts dominate as the updrafts weaken. The thunderstorm loses energy and begins to break up. Rainfall and lightning gradually decrease, and the system dissipates. Though less intense, residual turbulence may remain even as the storm subsides.
What does that mean for aircraft?
Thunderstorms can cause several hazardous conditions for aircraft:
Wind Shear: Rapid changes in wind speed and direction near thunderstorms, particularly in the vicinity of downbursts or microbursts, can cause sudden altitude or speed changes. Wind shear is particularly dangerous during takeoff and landing phases of flight.
Lightning: Although aircraft are designed to withstand lightning strikes, the electrical discharge can still damage navigation systems and structural components. It can also startle passengers and crew.
Hail: Thunderstorms often produce hail, which can cause significant damage to an aircraft’s exterior, especially the windshield, wings, and engines. Large hailstones can even penetrate the fuselage.
Reduced Visibility and Heavy Rain: The intense rain within a thunderstorm can reduce visibility and, in severe cases, flood aircraft engines, impacting their performance.
Turbulence: Thunderstorms generate significant turbulence due to strong updrafts and downdrafts, which can be unpredictable and challenging to navigate safely. Severe turbulence can impact flight control, cause injury to passengers, and dislodge unsecured objects.
How do aircraft detect thunderstorms in the air?
An aircraft’s weather radar works by emitting pulses of microwave energy ahead of the aircraft, which interact with precipitation particles in the atmosphere. When these pulses encounter raindrops, snow, or hail within a storm, some of the energy is scattered back to the radar receiver. The strength and delay of the returned signal help determine the intensity and distance of the precipitation. Stronger signals indicate larger or denser precipitation, which typically correlates with thunderstorms. By displaying this information as color-coded maps (green for light precipitation, yellow for moderate, red for heavy, and magenta for extreme), the radar allows pilots to identify and avoid the most dangerous parts of a thunderstorm.
If you’re flying as a passenger, you can spot thunderstorms in the dissipating stage by looking out for ‘Anvil’ shaped clouds like the one below. These are caused by the temperature of the rising air equalizing with the temperature of the atmosphere at the tropopause (the height at which the troposphere meets the stratosphere).
Thunderstorms represent a critical hazard for aviation, requiring careful monitoring and strategic avoidance. While modern aircraft are built to handle many of these challenges, pilots rely on weather forecasting, radar, and air traffic control to avoid these storms whenever possible.
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Weather layers are a great way to add more context to your flight tracking experience.
Have you experienced flying during a thunderstorm?
Cover photo: Paulo H Goncalez, JetPhotos.
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