Rolling Thunder

Thunderstorms in the Birmingham Metro right now are producing that long, rolling thunder that can only come from an elevated thunderstorm.

Elevated thunderstorms have draw their instability from a higher altitude than normal storms. As such, their lightning strokes are longer. The thunder lasts longer and rolls and rolls. It is not the sharp crack that you hear from a cloud to ground strike in a surface based thunderstorm.

The Birmingham area storms will proceed down I-20 over the next couple of hours. So open the window and enjoy the sound.

These storms are being produced by an upper level wind max at the jet stream level that is moving through the Tennessee Valley and southerly winds rising up and over the shallow cold air mass that moved in behind the cold front this morning. That wind max is causing upward motion in the atmosphere.

More showers and storms are across northern Mississippi and southern Arkansas. These showers and storms will move eastward overnight, affecting Alabama later.

Category: Alabama's Weather