1)When the atmosphere is unstable, thunderstorms form in sudden, billowing masses of white vapor. Here, you see an image of a developing storm. Over the continental United States, storms can reach heights of 60,000 feet -- twice the cruising altitude of a passenger jet! Or, another way to think of it: at 60,000 feet, you have shot above the troposphere (the layer of atmosphere in which we live) and have entered the stratosphere!
2)Lightning snaps to the ground beside this well-defined wall cloud. This makes for more than a dramatic picture. Over the years, meteorologists have pondered whether lightning, in some way, helps spawn tornadoes. While the theory sounds exciting, it has fallen severely out of favor with leading researchers, and no direct connection between lightning and the formation of tornadoes is believed to exist.
3)The appearance of the updraft trunk of a supercell storm has been described by storm chasers as looking like "stacked plates." In this picture, that dangerous, smooth, striated look is very much in evidence. This rotating storm in the Texas Panhandle later lowered a brief tornado (luckily, of little strength) on top of a caravan of surprised meteorologists observing its behavior up close.
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