The Characteristics of a Severe Thunderstorm
Warm weather is great, except when the sky turns a menacing color, your phone pings with an alert, and the kids complain because the cable company is disrupting SpongeBob with a weather bulletin. Sometimes those bulletins make no sense. Storms that seem mild have the meteorologists in a frenzy, while others that seem bad don’t even rate a watch. It’s not the intensity of the rain or even the presence of hail that separates a thunderstorm from one that’s severe. A severe thunderstorm is defined by other standards.
Severe thunderstorm rolling in.
Thunderstorms
According to the National Severe Storms Laboratory, a thunderstorm is a rain shower that is accompanied by thunder and lightning, and it may also involve string winds, sleet, or hail. A thunderstorm becomes severe when it develops hail larger than an inch in diameter, wind gusts in excess of 57.5 mph, or a tornado. They can occur year-round and at any time of day, but are most likely to develop in the spring and summer, during the afternoon and evening. At any moment, there are approximately 2,000 thunderstorms happening somewhere in the world. The U.S. has about 100,000 thunderstorms annually, but only 10% reach severe status.
Severe Thunderstorms
Every thunderstorm also has lightning.
Severe thunderstorm watches are issued by NOAA Storm Prediction Center meteorologists who constantly monitor the weather across the country for conditions that could lead to storms. When a watch is issued, it means that people in the affected area should pay attention to weather reports on TV or radio. A severe thunderstorm warning means that dangerous weather has been picked up on radar or by spotters in the field and it’s time to head to safety. One easy way to stay on top of weather alerts, especially on the go, is to download an app for smartphones. Most come with a weather app preinstalled and it’s worth the time to personalize it or find another.
Storm Damage – Repair and Costs
If you find yourself dealing with too much water from storm damage, or any other reason, call the pros at RestorationMaster, South Bend IN. Their phones are staffed 24 hours a day, seven days a week and in most cases they can be on-site within a couple of hours. The sooner the cleanup begins, the less damage will be done. If mold does appear, they have the equipment and training to identify the type of mold and determine the proper remediation.
Costs to repair water damage vary, depending on how much of the building and its furnishings are affected. According to HomeAdvisor.com, the national average is $2,105.00.
About Vince Sandri
Vince Sandri is a content writer and blogger with more than 12 years of experience. His expertise is in creating content related to disaster restoration, including information about preventing and reacting to natural disasters like flooding, water damage, fire and smoke damage, mold growth, storm damage and more.
Vince has been the main contributor to RestorationMasterFinder.com since 2014. Over that time, he has written numerous service pages and blogs for disaster restoration providers featured on RestorationMasterFinder.com. Vince has done extensive research and covered a wide range of topics relating to disaster restoration to help homeowners, business owners, and property managers better protect their property. He understands the problems that disasters like flooding, fire, smoke, and mold can cause as well as the best ways to respond to these issues to limit the damage.
Vince completed his Bachelor of Arts degree at Aurora University and his master’s degree at DePaul University. He has been writing SEO website pages, blogs, and press releases since 2012. Vince is also a musician and can be seen playing in the Chicago, IL area.
