Thunderbolt

"They say it is safe to be in your car in a thunder and lightning storm? Do not believe it! A bolt of lightning struck the truck in the front and then in the back, jumped through the front living room, dining room, out the window, took my car and then out through the Florida room. The truck is more the likely not able to be repaired and my car smells like fried wires, both are dead. The good thing is the house did not burn and we were not injured. After all Florida is the lightning capitol of the USA!" - Patricia Allen - 46

A thunderstorm is the name for a cumulonimbus cloud containing lightning and thunder. Thunderstorms are formed when much condensation occurs in an atmosphere that is both unstable and supports fast upward movement. The most common place for thunderstorms to form is along the Gulf Coast and across the southeastern and western states. These storms mostly occur in the afternoon during spring and summer time. The most destructive aspect of a thunderstorm is, surprisingly, not lightning, it is micro bursts. Micro bursts are the sudden change of wind direction in a thunderstorm. - Michelle Rooks - 236

The abnormal pattern of increase in temperatures down the Peruvian and Ecuadorian coast is called El Nino. It is part of a bigger change in wind and weather all over the world. El Nino and La Nina are essentially the same phenomenon. When unusually cool temperatures in the ocean occur on the equator between South America and the Date Line, La Nina exists. This happens around Christmas time. El Nino is noticed along the South American coast, in the open Pacific Ocean, near the Galapagos, and near the Date Line 4 months after La Nina. The most significant cause of damage during El Nino is a result of the violent storms it brings and the upsets in global food chain that it puts into effect. The significant damage from La Ni?a is the increase Atlantic hurricane activity that it causes. - Michelle Rooks - 235