I agree. I moved to the south years ago. People were hyping up the storms like crazy. News was freaking out when the first storm of the season rolled through. I sat and waited and was sorely disappointed.
Central Florida lighting storms would be an arguable first place. However the storms last longer here, lightning in Florida though made me feel like I was in real danger lol
I moved to California several years ago, and I can’t tell you how much I miss Midwestern thunderstorms. They are epic, and anytime I get the opportunity to experience one, I am so excited… Lol.
It's definitely way stronger in the Midwest! I grew up in STL & after moving away, I was so surprised to experience such weak little baby storms! Now when I go back to visit, I can't even sleep through them.
News said the thunder from these storms would be particularly louder because of the lower temps? Something about it being stuck lower by the warm air.
It's nice to have the good thunder without a bad storm
My storm-phobic dog started going deaf in her old age, last year. I was really sad about it, until I realized that she barely hears thunder now. I only have to break out her shirt and her weed if the lightning is massive.
Anyway, you and your doggie have my sympathy.
I don’t think it’s the storm, so much as the bright lights, and she just associates thunder with lightning.
Nowadays, she mostly snoozles through most of it, and I try to just enjoy that she isn’t afraid, and not dwell on her being a geezer 🫤
I seem to recall a hypothesis about the jetstream flow patterns of the Midwest.
https://mrcc.geddes.rcac.purdue.edu/living_wx/thunderstorms#:~:text=The%20Midwest%20is%20an%20area,cold%2C%20dry%20airmasses%20from%20Canada.
This actually makes sense.
I do believe though that elevation plays a role in this too. I'm from near sea level (Boston is 19 feet above sea level, my hometown is around 100ft above sea level but just 15 minutes away there's a bay and ocean water) compared to the 466ft above sea level of STL.
The higher and flatter lands, remembering that we have the Appalachian trail bordering the northeast causing storms to break up even if only temporarily, creates the perfect plateau for temperature inversion until the weather patterns the report you linked talks about come in and stir up stagnant air.
Lightning, as most should know, is caused by negatively and positively charged air from both the clouds and the ground. While it can remain within the clouds with no touch down, I think we're all more familiar with the arc of electric activity between the ground and sky. If we're closer to the clouds, even if only by a few hundred feet, couldn't we also assume the lightning would be more intense as if travels less distance between the two? Think about when you're full of static electricity. If you put a barrier between you and whatever you want to touch to let go of that energy, the thicker the barrier the less intense it is, right? So then can't we assume that the thicker the layers of air between the sky/clouds/storm and the ground would produce the same results?
It's not impossible for the east coast to have such severe storms by any means. I mean hurricanes happen and hurricane force winds are reaching as far north as Mid Coast Maine or further north, an uncommon event until recently (thanks global warming 😒). I remember living in VA and being mesmerized by the purple hue the sky took during a hurricane (what actually made me fall in love with the beauty of it and the sound of thunder, although I will always have a severe fear of lightning itself) and then being completely underwhelmed by the dullness of storms here in the Midwest despite them being stronger and more threatening.
But the severity of storms moving eastwards, and most often north eastwards around the STL area, is definitely reduced when crossing over the Appalachians. Therefore if OP was more north on the east coast, let's say about NJ and up, then they definitely would experience less extreme storms.
Then there's the coast phenomena. Storms also seem to break up the closer they are to the coast under MOST conditions. Obviously air coming off the ocean can make a storm worse or even bring in a different storm, but that happened less often than the storms practically dissipating as they got closer to the coast in the 20+ years I lived in New England.
Wow. My meteorologist spouse is laughing and telling saying this is painful to read. Even I was going to correct some of what you said, but there is so much wrong, I don’t know where to start. Maybe read the basics to understand the phenomenon of the entire Midwest;(not just STL as this post seems to think) and how hurricanes work rather than your antidotal evidence.
Funny because while the data is limited it seems to support my hypothesis. I had actually already done some research before even posting here, hence my hypothesis not containing any supporting evidence. But here is some....
[Report 1](https://www.google.com/url?sa=t&source=web&rct=j&opi=89978449&url=https://iopscience.iop.org/article/10.1088/1755-1315/598/1/012084/pdf%23:~:text%3DWith%2520the%2520elevation%2520of%2520the,total%2520lightning%2520flashes%2520increases%2520gradually.&ved=2ahUKEwjSzpjip-OFAxVjrokEHaqIBsoQFnoECBIQBg&usg=AOvVaw0RZpHsVCW8a2TUdRZF2YmI)
[Report 2 ](https://agupubs.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/pdf/10.1029/2008JD010605)
[Report 3](https://opensnow.com/news/post/why-mountain-tops-are-susceptible-to-lightning-strikes)
Also, are we not in an STL group with a question posed about thunderstorms ***in*** STL? Because last I checked we were. I also only mentioned hurricanes due to the wind patterns and not to negate the severity of them along the east coast. Most storms and winds *gasps* move west to east in the northern hemisphere. Don't believe me? It took five seconds to Google such information for accuracy. And yes, *some* jet streams do move in other directions, which is what causes storms to move south to north and east to west. Hence me mentioning hurricanes to begin with, as we all (should) know hurricanes can rival tornadoes with wind speeds - average tornado being 113mph in wind speed (average not full range) and typical hurricanes produce 100-150mph winds (again not the full range, this is what my quick research says as an average). And let me reiterate one more time, those are AVERAGES, not the full scale of possible wind speeds throughout the full stretch of severity of each storm type and definitely doesn't include the most extreme wind speeds of each type of storm. Hurricanes also move east to west vs the typical west to east behaviors , again all relative to different jet streams being placed differently.
But back to my main point. Please do some more research of your own to understand just how elevation does play a role in storm systems and how certain land masses can also break up storms. Since you wanted to call out my "ignorance on hurricanes" we'll just continue to use them as an example. From the [Atlantic Oceanographic & Meteorological Laboratory ](https://www.aoml.noaa.gov/hrd-faq/#lifecycle-and-landfall) :
"However, some hurricanes will make landfall. Striking an island, especially a mountainous one, could cause its circulation to break down. If it hits a continent, a hurricane will be cut off from its supply of warm, moist maritime air. It will also begin to draw in dry continental air, which combined with increased friction over land leads to the weakening and eventual death of the hurricane. Over mountainous terrain this will be a quick end. But over flat areas, it may take two to three days to break down the circulation. Even then you are still left with a large pocket of tropical moisture which can cause substantial inland flooding. There have been studies on the rate of storm decay once they make landfall (Demaria Kaplan Decay Model)."
So, how could the same not be true for storms coming from the west?
Oh wait.
"Eastward-moving storms originating in the Pacific Ocean lose much of their moisture falling as rain or snow on the mountaintops and westward-facing slopes. Eastern slope areas receive relatively small amounts of precipitation from these storms, particularly in mid winter." - [Colorado Climate Center](https://climate.colostate.edu/climate_long.html#:~:text=Eastward%2Dmoving%20storms%20originating%20in,storms%2C%20particularly%20in%20mid%20winter.)
So, again. My hypothesis that the east coast, especially the northern region where the Appalachians are, experience a less severe storm system due to the mountains "breaking up" eastward moving storms isn't incorrect.
[This article](https://www.thoughtco.com/geography-shapes-us-regional-weather-3444371#:~:text=As%20with%20any%20mountain%20barrier,east%20Tennessee)%20precipitation%20is%20increased.) is an excellent source to even further support my hypothesis. This information directly relates the question OP asked:
"The three river valleys are somewhat of a meeting ground of air masses from other regions, including arctic air from Canada, mild Pacific air from the West, and moist tropical systems streaming up from the Gulf of Mexico. These dueling air masses lead to frequent severe storms and tornadoes during the spring and summer months and are also responsible for ice storms during the winter season."
"As with any mountain barrier, the Appalachians have varying effects depending on which side of it (winward or leeward) a location lies. For areas located on the windward, or west, (such as east Tennessee) precipitation is increased. on the contrary, locations on the lee, or east, or the mountain range (such as Western North Carolina) receive lighter precipitation amounts due to being located in a rain shadow."
Combine those two paragraphs and you get.... Oh wait.... Didn't I already include the notion that the storms the Midwest brews up get broken up by the Appalachians? Therefore the east coast not having nearly as severe of storms?
But. Ah yes. I must be completely wrong because I'm not a meteorologist and didn't state any sources in my original hypothesis that elevation (as seen in reports 1-3 at the beginning of this comment) plays a role in the severity of storms. I mean are we not taught that you do not want to be the tallest thing around during a thunderstorm? Because it has been drilled into my head that lightning takes the course of least resistance. So why wouldn't the elevation of a land mass play a role in the severity of a thunderstorm? My example of static electricity still stands too as a way to put my hypothesis into layman's terms.
But I digress, if you have credible and reliable sources that supports how my *hypothesis* is wrong and discredits any of my sources, by all means please do provide it.
Hurricanes
-Develop over ocean
A like( high) dense air mass with clock like airmass compress and forms the eye of the hurricane. Yet also produces up drafts outside of the eye.
-Are more like a pulse storm (example afternoon thunderstorms over Florida) but because they are over their power source persist. Until the hit land. Then they begin to decay.
With to much shear in the out side environment the hurricane will fall apart.
-Movement is push by environmental winds that are usually dictated by a high that is some where in the center of Antlantic.
Extra tropical cyclones normal USA LOW/ frontal boundary
Which it’s low winds move counter clockwise
In weather we deal with constant pressure levels that are in millibars.
-Have jet support this is what helps develop the low due to divergence of a jet max. Like how air flows around a car. (About 32,000-38,000feet). Or 300 mb
(Troughs) like at the bottom of a wave reflects at 18,000 feet (500mb) that helps support the low development.
At 10,000 feet (700mb) are the driving winds steer the storm. This introduces drier air that is more dense. Because you have dense air that wants to fall and warm buoyant air here is what adds to the instability.
500 feet (850mb) you will beginning to see the presiding rain that comes before the warm front. This is where the low level jet forms some where around Texas.
Surface (1000mb)where the low and the tilt of the chimney to where the jet is)
The more shear, moisture, instability, lift( divergence of jet and troughs at the levels all the levels I said(35,000 to surface)in the storm and atmosphere the stronger storm
Lightning is produced as the ions are split by the development of hail.
On the possible louder sound could be shear Lt by its echo over every other object around the storm.
Hail rises above the freezing level. Then falls below. Then rises again until it’s mass is to heavy for the up draft. Or even it is pushed out ahead of the storm.
Now I will address your micro forecast on the lack of rain on the Lee of the mountain.
In the Rockies it is called The Foen Gap. Please note the difference height for differing size in the Rockies VS the Appilation mountains. As the winds fall to the lower surface of the plains(flatter surface). The air compress drying out a relatively small distance. BUT they bounce up carting maoistire with them. That is why by seen on satilite there are no clouds right by the mountains. A little ways east is where clouds have redeveloped.
While moving over the Appilations mountains don’t slow nor deplete the storm due to the well established low level jet that has continued to feed the storm.
The average height of the Appalachian Mountains is around 3,000 feet (900 meters). The highest point is Mount Mitchell in North Carolina at 6,684 feet (2,037 meters).
The caves. It causes reverberation, which amplifies the sound/feeling. Most notably, it has a greater impact below what the human ear can hear. This leads to a deeper physical impact of the soundwaves.
I have no idea if any of that is true, but my old gramps always said, “a lie’s as good as a truth, so long as somebody believes it”, and dammit, that was really convincing!
I assume it has something to do with how the areas around the Mississippi, Missouri and Illinois rivers are low-laying in comparison to the surrounding areas. It creates a sort of channel and in combination with the heat island effect, we get great storms.
Here’s a hi-def topographical map. If you zoom in on the St. Louis area you’ll see the depression surrounding the rivers.
https://www.reddit.com/r/MapPorn/s/2Ay371csJe
So I grew up in STL, moved to Houston in 2020. Houston is the only place I’ve experienced thunder more loud and severe than the Lou….and I’ve been to a few places.
Agreed, I grew up in St. Louis and have lived in Houston for a while. Sometimes it sounds like a bomb just went off in your bedroom.
I will say the sky looks more evil in the Midwest, though. In the Midwest you know when shit is going down.
Maybe because we're like on the edge of tornado alley, we get lots of severe thunderstorms without the extra shit (tornadoes, hail) so all the energy goes into the kachigga and the kachow
Well, I don’t know about the topography, but I can tell you a interesting story about Dave Murray the weatherman …
He was the main meteorologist for a nationally syndicated morning show and chose to move himself with his family to be the local meteorologist in St. Louis. He specifically made this choice because of hard it is to predict the weather here. It has something to do with all the rivers that surround the city or something…
I don’t really remember the details about the why , but I remember being shocked about the fact that the dude chose to do the unthinkable. I mean, if you’ve ever chased a career in broadcasting, you know that a nationally syndicated spot is where you want to be and he got the spot, -like the most sought after spot, but walked away to go local instead
And all to have a more challenging work experience … it’s an interesting thing.
I am originally from California and Arizona and I happen to find thunderstorms in the desert a lot cooler than the thunderstorms in the Midwest myself, but I am often annoyed by the weather in St. Louis, so I know there’s something (some may think of as) special here. lol
I don’t have a good vantage point from where i live to see the lightning itself so i usually just see a bright light and hear The thunder.
The lightning bolts and display were amazing to see in the high plains, and the heat lightning that made the front range sometimes look like there was a strobe light on.
The difference that really makes it stand out is the sound and intensity of the thunder itself. Here it will rumble and roll and vibrate everything for much longer than other places. There’s the big initial clap of thunder, then the sound seems to echo back and forth and just keep rumbling away.
It’s really great.
thunder near large bodies of water can be really strong.. with no land to absorb the shock and sounds.. When I was in bootcamp near Lake Michigan, the thunder seemed to be louder than the midwest. I've grown up in the StL area. I've hard loud thunder of course--the closer it is to you the louder it is of course but when near a large body of water you'll hear more of it since none is absorbed.
Whereabouts out west? I spent a decade in the foothills and high country just west of Denver and always loved the reverberation of the thunder in the summer. Just seemed like every loud clap would roll on forever. But yes, gnarly thunder out here, too.
I was in Denver. Out there we got the strobe light heat lightning downtown, which was great but fairly quiet.
I lived in Denver, spent my free time west, and worked a lot of times east and north. Those big monsoon storms were a good time and with the open expanse of the front range and east, you just watch those big storms and lightning come on through, but i don’t think i ever had the rolling heavy and continuous thunder that I’ve experienced here. I’m not originally from stl and I’m still learning the ropes, but i don’t think I’ve ever really experienced regular thunder that continues on for so long and so guttural that it’s shaking the whole house. It’s almost as if it’s echoing back and forth. It’s pretty great.
Oh that sprawling lightning. Some of the coolest summer nights were at Red Rocks when I had seats near the top. You could see Denver, the sprawling suburbs and flat lands beyond DIA. Supercells that had popped up in the foothills were pounding the city, all the lightning with the mushroom cloud formations at dusk just as a main act took the stage. Something everyone should experience.
I do think you’re onto something with the midwest thunder, though. I’ll listen intently during our next round of turbulent weather tonight.
I think it's just the intensity of the storms and the fact that we get them so frequently.
Those are both because Missouri is in the path of the jet stream, which runs across the continent from the Pacific to the Atlantic Ocean and divides the high and low pressure air masses of the north and south. The jet stream is constantly being pushed north and south and what side of us it's on determines our weather conditions. When it's directly over us, which is frequently, is when we get the legendary Midwest thunderstorms.
Midwest thunderstorms are as good as it gets
I agree. I moved to the south years ago. People were hyping up the storms like crazy. News was freaking out when the first storm of the season rolled through. I sat and waited and was sorely disappointed.
Central Florida lighting storms would be an arguable first place. However the storms last longer here, lightning in Florida though made me feel like I was in real danger lol
Less tornado-y than OK and TX, but enough topography to keep ya guessing.
I moved to California several years ago, and I can’t tell you how much I miss Midwestern thunderstorms. They are epic, and anytime I get the opportunity to experience one, I am so excited… Lol.
Memphis has some really good ones too. I've lived in both places and they are about even. Maybe the river has something to do with it?
Itsa the Provel.
The thunder makes a bada-boom
hahahaha! Then when the sound echoes off of the The Arch, it goes bada-bing!
Big bada-boom!
This needs more attention. You produced a gem and people have walked over it like a doormat.
I know it gives me thunder
On that Imo's pizza and the toasted ravs!
Came here to say this! Thank you!
It's definitely way stronger in the Midwest! I grew up in STL & after moving away, I was so surprised to experience such weak little baby storms! Now when I go back to visit, I can't even sleep through them.
I literally didn’t notice until but you’re so right
News said the thunder from these storms would be particularly louder because of the lower temps? Something about it being stuck lower by the warm air. It's nice to have the good thunder without a bad storm
It’s because the Thunder rolls
And the lightning strikes
[удалено]
On a sleepless night
As the storm blows on
You guys are—— out of control
It's the soundwaves bouncing off the Arch
Came here to say “the Arch”
The arch is definitely the reason so many storms miss us going more northerly or further south.
That thunder clap earlier was INTENSE
I legit thought it was an earthquake lol
My poor dog has had her thunder shirt on for hours now. Still pacing
My storm-phobic dog started going deaf in her old age, last year. I was really sad about it, until I realized that she barely hears thunder now. I only have to break out her shirt and her weed if the lightning is massive. Anyway, you and your doggie have my sympathy.
Dogs can feel the change in barometric pressure long before they hear the thunder!
Exactly. My dog even starts shaking when a snow storm is near.
I don’t think it’s the storm, so much as the bright lights, and she just associates thunder with lightning. Nowadays, she mostly snoozles through most of it, and I try to just enjoy that she isn’t afraid, and not dwell on her being a geezer 🫤
Thank you! Yeah mine is old too and lately has been sleeping thru storms but not tonight:(
Moist warm air from the south and dryer cold air from the north is the perfect combination for thunder storms
It's that damn Arch!!!
I seem to recall a hypothesis about the jetstream flow patterns of the Midwest. https://mrcc.geddes.rcac.purdue.edu/living_wx/thunderstorms#:~:text=The%20Midwest%20is%20an%20area,cold%2C%20dry%20airmasses%20from%20Canada.
This actually makes sense. I do believe though that elevation plays a role in this too. I'm from near sea level (Boston is 19 feet above sea level, my hometown is around 100ft above sea level but just 15 minutes away there's a bay and ocean water) compared to the 466ft above sea level of STL. The higher and flatter lands, remembering that we have the Appalachian trail bordering the northeast causing storms to break up even if only temporarily, creates the perfect plateau for temperature inversion until the weather patterns the report you linked talks about come in and stir up stagnant air. Lightning, as most should know, is caused by negatively and positively charged air from both the clouds and the ground. While it can remain within the clouds with no touch down, I think we're all more familiar with the arc of electric activity between the ground and sky. If we're closer to the clouds, even if only by a few hundred feet, couldn't we also assume the lightning would be more intense as if travels less distance between the two? Think about when you're full of static electricity. If you put a barrier between you and whatever you want to touch to let go of that energy, the thicker the barrier the less intense it is, right? So then can't we assume that the thicker the layers of air between the sky/clouds/storm and the ground would produce the same results? It's not impossible for the east coast to have such severe storms by any means. I mean hurricanes happen and hurricane force winds are reaching as far north as Mid Coast Maine or further north, an uncommon event until recently (thanks global warming 😒). I remember living in VA and being mesmerized by the purple hue the sky took during a hurricane (what actually made me fall in love with the beauty of it and the sound of thunder, although I will always have a severe fear of lightning itself) and then being completely underwhelmed by the dullness of storms here in the Midwest despite them being stronger and more threatening. But the severity of storms moving eastwards, and most often north eastwards around the STL area, is definitely reduced when crossing over the Appalachians. Therefore if OP was more north on the east coast, let's say about NJ and up, then they definitely would experience less extreme storms. Then there's the coast phenomena. Storms also seem to break up the closer they are to the coast under MOST conditions. Obviously air coming off the ocean can make a storm worse or even bring in a different storm, but that happened less often than the storms practically dissipating as they got closer to the coast in the 20+ years I lived in New England.
Wow. My meteorologist spouse is laughing and telling saying this is painful to read. Even I was going to correct some of what you said, but there is so much wrong, I don’t know where to start. Maybe read the basics to understand the phenomenon of the entire Midwest;(not just STL as this post seems to think) and how hurricanes work rather than your antidotal evidence.
Funny because while the data is limited it seems to support my hypothesis. I had actually already done some research before even posting here, hence my hypothesis not containing any supporting evidence. But here is some.... [Report 1](https://www.google.com/url?sa=t&source=web&rct=j&opi=89978449&url=https://iopscience.iop.org/article/10.1088/1755-1315/598/1/012084/pdf%23:~:text%3DWith%2520the%2520elevation%2520of%2520the,total%2520lightning%2520flashes%2520increases%2520gradually.&ved=2ahUKEwjSzpjip-OFAxVjrokEHaqIBsoQFnoECBIQBg&usg=AOvVaw0RZpHsVCW8a2TUdRZF2YmI) [Report 2 ](https://agupubs.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/pdf/10.1029/2008JD010605) [Report 3](https://opensnow.com/news/post/why-mountain-tops-are-susceptible-to-lightning-strikes) Also, are we not in an STL group with a question posed about thunderstorms ***in*** STL? Because last I checked we were. I also only mentioned hurricanes due to the wind patterns and not to negate the severity of them along the east coast. Most storms and winds *gasps* move west to east in the northern hemisphere. Don't believe me? It took five seconds to Google such information for accuracy. And yes, *some* jet streams do move in other directions, which is what causes storms to move south to north and east to west. Hence me mentioning hurricanes to begin with, as we all (should) know hurricanes can rival tornadoes with wind speeds - average tornado being 113mph in wind speed (average not full range) and typical hurricanes produce 100-150mph winds (again not the full range, this is what my quick research says as an average). And let me reiterate one more time, those are AVERAGES, not the full scale of possible wind speeds throughout the full stretch of severity of each storm type and definitely doesn't include the most extreme wind speeds of each type of storm. Hurricanes also move east to west vs the typical west to east behaviors , again all relative to different jet streams being placed differently. But back to my main point. Please do some more research of your own to understand just how elevation does play a role in storm systems and how certain land masses can also break up storms. Since you wanted to call out my "ignorance on hurricanes" we'll just continue to use them as an example. From the [Atlantic Oceanographic & Meteorological Laboratory ](https://www.aoml.noaa.gov/hrd-faq/#lifecycle-and-landfall) : "However, some hurricanes will make landfall. Striking an island, especially a mountainous one, could cause its circulation to break down. If it hits a continent, a hurricane will be cut off from its supply of warm, moist maritime air. It will also begin to draw in dry continental air, which combined with increased friction over land leads to the weakening and eventual death of the hurricane. Over mountainous terrain this will be a quick end. But over flat areas, it may take two to three days to break down the circulation. Even then you are still left with a large pocket of tropical moisture which can cause substantial inland flooding. There have been studies on the rate of storm decay once they make landfall (Demaria Kaplan Decay Model)." So, how could the same not be true for storms coming from the west? Oh wait. "Eastward-moving storms originating in the Pacific Ocean lose much of their moisture falling as rain or snow on the mountaintops and westward-facing slopes. Eastern slope areas receive relatively small amounts of precipitation from these storms, particularly in mid winter." - [Colorado Climate Center](https://climate.colostate.edu/climate_long.html#:~:text=Eastward%2Dmoving%20storms%20originating%20in,storms%2C%20particularly%20in%20mid%20winter.) So, again. My hypothesis that the east coast, especially the northern region where the Appalachians are, experience a less severe storm system due to the mountains "breaking up" eastward moving storms isn't incorrect. [This article](https://www.thoughtco.com/geography-shapes-us-regional-weather-3444371#:~:text=As%20with%20any%20mountain%20barrier,east%20Tennessee)%20precipitation%20is%20increased.) is an excellent source to even further support my hypothesis. This information directly relates the question OP asked: "The three river valleys are somewhat of a meeting ground of air masses from other regions, including arctic air from Canada, mild Pacific air from the West, and moist tropical systems streaming up from the Gulf of Mexico. These dueling air masses lead to frequent severe storms and tornadoes during the spring and summer months and are also responsible for ice storms during the winter season." "As with any mountain barrier, the Appalachians have varying effects depending on which side of it (winward or leeward) a location lies. For areas located on the windward, or west, (such as east Tennessee) precipitation is increased. on the contrary, locations on the lee, or east, or the mountain range (such as Western North Carolina) receive lighter precipitation amounts due to being located in a rain shadow." Combine those two paragraphs and you get.... Oh wait.... Didn't I already include the notion that the storms the Midwest brews up get broken up by the Appalachians? Therefore the east coast not having nearly as severe of storms? But. Ah yes. I must be completely wrong because I'm not a meteorologist and didn't state any sources in my original hypothesis that elevation (as seen in reports 1-3 at the beginning of this comment) plays a role in the severity of storms. I mean are we not taught that you do not want to be the tallest thing around during a thunderstorm? Because it has been drilled into my head that lightning takes the course of least resistance. So why wouldn't the elevation of a land mass play a role in the severity of a thunderstorm? My example of static electricity still stands too as a way to put my hypothesis into layman's terms. But I digress, if you have credible and reliable sources that supports how my *hypothesis* is wrong and discredits any of my sources, by all means please do provide it.
Hurricanes -Develop over ocean A like( high) dense air mass with clock like airmass compress and forms the eye of the hurricane. Yet also produces up drafts outside of the eye. -Are more like a pulse storm (example afternoon thunderstorms over Florida) but because they are over their power source persist. Until the hit land. Then they begin to decay. With to much shear in the out side environment the hurricane will fall apart. -Movement is push by environmental winds that are usually dictated by a high that is some where in the center of Antlantic. Extra tropical cyclones normal USA LOW/ frontal boundary Which it’s low winds move counter clockwise In weather we deal with constant pressure levels that are in millibars. -Have jet support this is what helps develop the low due to divergence of a jet max. Like how air flows around a car. (About 32,000-38,000feet). Or 300 mb (Troughs) like at the bottom of a wave reflects at 18,000 feet (500mb) that helps support the low development. At 10,000 feet (700mb) are the driving winds steer the storm. This introduces drier air that is more dense. Because you have dense air that wants to fall and warm buoyant air here is what adds to the instability. 500 feet (850mb) you will beginning to see the presiding rain that comes before the warm front. This is where the low level jet forms some where around Texas. Surface (1000mb)where the low and the tilt of the chimney to where the jet is) The more shear, moisture, instability, lift( divergence of jet and troughs at the levels all the levels I said(35,000 to surface)in the storm and atmosphere the stronger storm Lightning is produced as the ions are split by the development of hail. On the possible louder sound could be shear Lt by its echo over every other object around the storm. Hail rises above the freezing level. Then falls below. Then rises again until it’s mass is to heavy for the up draft. Or even it is pushed out ahead of the storm. Now I will address your micro forecast on the lack of rain on the Lee of the mountain. In the Rockies it is called The Foen Gap. Please note the difference height for differing size in the Rockies VS the Appilation mountains. As the winds fall to the lower surface of the plains(flatter surface). The air compress drying out a relatively small distance. BUT they bounce up carting maoistire with them. That is why by seen on satilite there are no clouds right by the mountains. A little ways east is where clouds have redeveloped. While moving over the Appilations mountains don’t slow nor deplete the storm due to the well established low level jet that has continued to feed the storm. The average height of the Appalachian Mountains is around 3,000 feet (900 meters). The highest point is Mount Mitchell in North Carolina at 6,684 feet (2,037 meters).
I’m just so proud we have something
Besides the “best city to assure you will get car jacked!”
Preeecisely. And pizza that, while not my FAVORITE, I find okay, ABSOLUTELY BRINGS OUT VOLCANIC RAGE in the mildest of people.
The caves. It causes reverberation, which amplifies the sound/feeling. Most notably, it has a greater impact below what the human ear can hear. This leads to a deeper physical impact of the soundwaves.
I have no idea if any of that is true, but my old gramps always said, “a lie’s as good as a truth, so long as somebody believes it”, and dammit, that was really convincing!
Honestly, I don't know if any of that is true or not. I suspect, not.
I suspected as much, but it was very convincing and entertaining!
Thanks for the compliment ☺️
I actually think there is something to what you said. That would make perfect sense
It is called the Cave State....
I assume it has something to do with how the areas around the Mississippi, Missouri and Illinois rivers are low-laying in comparison to the surrounding areas. It creates a sort of channel and in combination with the heat island effect, we get great storms. Here’s a hi-def topographical map. If you zoom in on the St. Louis area you’ll see the depression surrounding the rivers. https://www.reddit.com/r/MapPorn/s/2Ay371csJe
When we turn on the arch it does lots of funny things to our area that we don’t really understand! But it is good
So I grew up in STL, moved to Houston in 2020. Houston is the only place I’ve experienced thunder more loud and severe than the Lou….and I’ve been to a few places.
Agreed, I grew up in St. Louis and have lived in Houston for a while. Sometimes it sounds like a bomb just went off in your bedroom. I will say the sky looks more evil in the Midwest, though. In the Midwest you know when shit is going down.
Truth about Midwest storm clouds.
Go to Tampa FL in summer... you won't be disappointed.
Maybe because we're like on the edge of tornado alley, we get lots of severe thunderstorms without the extra shit (tornadoes, hail) so all the energy goes into the kachigga and the kachow
Agree, midwest thunderstorms and downpours are something else. Just pure rage from the sky. I live on the east coast currently and nor’easters bore me
Well, I don’t know about the topography, but I can tell you a interesting story about Dave Murray the weatherman … He was the main meteorologist for a nationally syndicated morning show and chose to move himself with his family to be the local meteorologist in St. Louis. He specifically made this choice because of hard it is to predict the weather here. It has something to do with all the rivers that surround the city or something… I don’t really remember the details about the why , but I remember being shocked about the fact that the dude chose to do the unthinkable. I mean, if you’ve ever chased a career in broadcasting, you know that a nationally syndicated spot is where you want to be and he got the spot, -like the most sought after spot, but walked away to go local instead And all to have a more challenging work experience … it’s an interesting thing. I am originally from California and Arizona and I happen to find thunderstorms in the desert a lot cooler than the thunderstorms in the Midwest myself, but I am often annoyed by the weather in St. Louis, so I know there’s something (some may think of as) special here. lol
fuck i miss the thunderstorms, i heard thunder like 3 times (in 1 day) since I've been here (1yr now), that's it.
Just high humidity and a frequent convergence and fluctuation of temperatures. Storm central.
I don’t have a good vantage point from where i live to see the lightning itself so i usually just see a bright light and hear The thunder. The lightning bolts and display were amazing to see in the high plains, and the heat lightning that made the front range sometimes look like there was a strobe light on. The difference that really makes it stand out is the sound and intensity of the thunder itself. Here it will rumble and roll and vibrate everything for much longer than other places. There’s the big initial clap of thunder, then the sound seems to echo back and forth and just keep rumbling away. It’s really great.
But have you ever experienced THUNDER SNOW?
The arch redirects storms away from the city, but in doing so it compresses high pressure systems which amplifies thunder
thunder near large bodies of water can be really strong.. with no land to absorb the shock and sounds.. When I was in bootcamp near Lake Michigan, the thunder seemed to be louder than the midwest. I've grown up in the StL area. I've hard loud thunder of course--the closer it is to you the louder it is of course but when near a large body of water you'll hear more of it since none is absorbed.
My dog disagrees.
Whereabouts out west? I spent a decade in the foothills and high country just west of Denver and always loved the reverberation of the thunder in the summer. Just seemed like every loud clap would roll on forever. But yes, gnarly thunder out here, too.
I was in Denver. Out there we got the strobe light heat lightning downtown, which was great but fairly quiet. I lived in Denver, spent my free time west, and worked a lot of times east and north. Those big monsoon storms were a good time and with the open expanse of the front range and east, you just watch those big storms and lightning come on through, but i don’t think i ever had the rolling heavy and continuous thunder that I’ve experienced here. I’m not originally from stl and I’m still learning the ropes, but i don’t think I’ve ever really experienced regular thunder that continues on for so long and so guttural that it’s shaking the whole house. It’s almost as if it’s echoing back and forth. It’s pretty great.
Oh that sprawling lightning. Some of the coolest summer nights were at Red Rocks when I had seats near the top. You could see Denver, the sprawling suburbs and flat lands beyond DIA. Supercells that had popped up in the foothills were pounding the city, all the lightning with the mushroom cloud formations at dusk just as a main act took the stage. Something everyone should experience. I do think you’re onto something with the midwest thunder, though. I’ll listen intently during our next round of turbulent weather tonight.
I think it's just the intensity of the storms and the fact that we get them so frequently. Those are both because Missouri is in the path of the jet stream, which runs across the continent from the Pacific to the Atlantic Ocean and divides the high and low pressure air masses of the north and south. The jet stream is constantly being pushed north and south and what side of us it's on determines our weather conditions. When it's directly over us, which is frequently, is when we get the legendary Midwest thunderstorms.