Storms are a disturbance on a planet’s atmosphere affecting its surface. They are usually characterized by accompanying rushes of wind, rain, thunder, lightning, sow, hail and sleet. Storms are exciting to watch on television but can be vastly destructive in reality.

A storm is any disturbed state of an environment or astronomical body's atmosphere especially affecting its surface, and strongly implying severe weather.

It may be marked by significant disruptions to normal conditions such as strong wind, hail, thunder and/or lightning (a thunderstorm), heavy precipitation (snowstorm, rainstorm), heavy freezing rain (ice storm), strong winds (tropical cyclone, windstorm), or wind transporting some substance through the atmosphere as in a dust storm, blizzard, sandstorm, etc.

Storms are created when a center of low pressure develops with a system of high pressure surrounding it. This combination of opposing forces can create winds and result in the formation of storm clouds, such as the cumulonimbus. Small localized areas of low pressure can form from hot air rising off hot ground; resulting in smaller disturbances such as dust devils and whirlwinds.

How Do Storms Develop?

Step 1
Tropical Wave: A "bump" or disruption of normal tropical easterly flow. Associated turning of wind causes low-level convergence of air, which helps with falling pressure and enhanced showers.

Step 2
This can evolve into a Tropical Depression, which is a closed circulation of air in the low levels. This in turn increases convergence and pressure falls, and wind speeds increase in a Catch-22 effect (i.e. the stronger the wind blows the greater the convergence, the quicker the pressure falls... so the stronger the wind, etc.).

Step 3
Once sustained winds reach 39 mph in the closed circulation a Tropical Storm is named. Usually there are at least 2 closed isobars (lines of equal pressure) of 4 mb increments around the center. If atmospheric conditions remain correct the system will evolve into a...

Step 4
Hurricane. There is usually a difference in pressure of at least 0.60 inches of mercury between the center and surrounding pressure field, with the greatest change near the center (eyewall). It is this great difference in pressure, which sometimes can be as great as 2.95 inches of mercury, that causes the wind to be so strong.

Step5
A mature hurricane is a well-oiled meteorological machine, but disruption of the processes that drive the storm (i.e. interaction with land or colder air feeding in) will begin to destroy the storm, and the disintegration of a hurricane can often be quick and dramatic.