Summary:
- Thunderstorms are known for their heavy rains and lightning.
- Worldwide, there are about 14 million of them each year.
- In the U.S., they are most common—and strongest—in the Midwest.
- Thunderstorms form when the ground is really hot.
- The difference in charge creates lightning.
- Lightning can jump between oppositely charged parts of the same cloud, between one cloud and another, or between a cloud and the ground.
- The air heats and expands so quickly that it explodes.
- This creates the loud sound of thunder.