| A | B |
|---|
| Cumulus stage | the beginning stage in thunderstorm development |
| Tornado watch | is issued when weather conditions are favorable for the development of severe thunderstorms that are capable of producing tornadoes |
| Dissipating stage | the final stage of a thunderstorm |
| Doppler radar | is a radar using the doppler effect of the returned echoes from targets to measure their radial velocity |
| Dryline | a narrow zone in the atmosphere along which there is an abrupt change in moisture |
| Entrainment | a phenomenon of the atmosphere |
| Flash | the total discharge of lightning |
| Fujita scale | is a scale for rating tornado intensity |
| Gust front | is a storm-scale or mesoscale boundary separating thunderstorm-cooled air from the surrounding air |
| Leader | the path of ionized air that forms near a cloud base prior to a lightning strike |
| Lightning | is an atmospheric discharge of electricity |
| Mature stage | the second stage of thunderstorms |
| Mesocyclone | is a vortex of air within a convective storm |
| Microburst | small short lived straight-line downburst of wind that occur under some thunderstorms |
| Multiple vortex | tornadoes that contain several smaller vortexs |
| Air mass | is a thunderstorm that is generally weak and usually not severe |
| Radar | is a system that uses electromagnetic waves to identify the range, altitude, direction, or speed of both moving and fixed objects |
| Return stroke | the electric discharge resulting from the downward movement of electrons |
| Severe thunderstorm | thunderstorm that produces frequenet lightning, damaging winds, and hail |
| Dart leader | is the cloud-to-ground movement of electrons which occurs just before a secondary lightning strike |
| Step leader | is a path of ionized air which extends downward from a thundercloud during a lightning strike |
| Stroke | a component that makes up a flash of lightning |
| Supercell | is a severe thunderstorm with a deep, continuously rotating updraft |
| Thunder | is the sound made by lightning |
| Thunderstorm | is a form of weather characterized by the presence of lightning and thunder |
| Tornado | is a violent, rotating column of air which is in contact with both the surface of the earth and a cumulonimbus cloud |
| Tornado warning | is an alert issued by government weather services to warn an area that a tornado may be imminent |
| Squall line | is a line of severe thunderstorms that can form along or ahead of a cold front |
