Ask the Bureau: What is a severe thunderstorm?

A severe thunderstorm is like a supercharged raincloud that gets really angry and causes big trouble.

Imagine you're playing outside, and suddenly the sky turns dark, the wind starts blowing your hair everywhere, and it begins to rain so hard it feels like someone is pouring buckets of water from above. That’s a severe thunderstorm!

A normal thunderstorm is like when you're upset but still can play catch, it has lightning and thunder, maybe some rain, but nothing too wild. But a severe thunderstorm is more like when you’re really angry and throw your toys all over the room, it has strong winds, big hail (like giant marbles falling from the sky), and sometimes even tornadoes!

Inside a severe thunderstorm, there are two main parts:

• The updraft is like a strong elevator that lifts raindrops high into the sky.
• The downdraft is like a powerful slide that brings cold air and heavy rain back down to Earth.

When these two work together, they make the storm really strong, and that’s when you get the big trouble!