Slashdot Mirror

← Back to Stories (view on slashdot.org)

Puzzling Electric Hurricanes

Posted by ScuttleMonkey on from the zap-me-like-a-hurricane dept.

SpaceAdmiral writes "Hurricanes seldom have lightning because they primarily consist of horizontal winds (as opposed to vertical winds). However, three of the biggest storms of 2005 (Rita, Katrina, and Emily) had plenty of lightning and NASA has an interesting write-up about it." Bottom line is "we still have a lot to learn about hurricanes."

2 of 154 comments (clear)

  1. Pardon my Ignorance by killkillkill · · Score: 5, Interesting

    I don't know much of anything about the equipment they use, but could it just be that we're seeing more lightning because we're lookinging harder and with better equipment?

  2. But there is Vertical movement... by JasperVal · · Score: 5, Interesting

    Major storms, including severe Thunderstorms and Hurricanes are an oddity in atmospheric conditions specifically because there is vertical movement. Normally the atmosphere is in hydrostatic balance and the vertical speed of an air parcel can be ignored. In a thunderstorm there are severe downdrafts that overpower the pressure gradient force and updrafts stronger than the force of gravity. It's only in severe storms when the atmosphere isn't in hydrostatic balance. Hurricanes couldn't develop without vertical movement; the eye in the center is a result of the surface low "pulling" air from the upper atmosphere down and clearing the clouds; the bands are similar downdrafts with updrafts occurring at the eye wall. There's more to the lack of lightning than no movement.