Electrical storm

From Glossary of Meteorology



electrical storm[edit | edit source]

  1. Popular term for thunderstorm.

  2. Sometimes applied to a relatively rare condition of disturbed atmospheric electric field in the lower atmosphere that arises when strong winds are blowing and much dust is in the air, but there is no thunderstorm activity.

    Triboelectrification due to the blowing dust may charge fences and other metallic objects to such an extent that slight shocks are felt upon touch.


Copyright 2024 American Meteorological Society (AMS). For permission to reuse any portion of this work, please contact permissions@ametsoc.org. Any use of material in this work that is determined to be “fair use” under Section 107 of the U.S. Copyright Act (17 U.S. Code § 107) or that satisfies the conditions specified in Section 108 of the U.S.Copyright Act (17 USC § 108) does not require AMS’s permission. Republication, systematic reproduction, posting in electronic form, such as on a website or in a searchable database, or other uses of this material, except as exempted by the above statement, require written permission or a license from AMS. Additional details are provided in the AMS Copyright Policy statement.