Thunderstorm behaviour

[Thunderman]

Why do some areas of the UK seem thunderstorm hotspots where as others totally miss out?

When I was living in Cambridgeshire ( St. Ives) our town 99% of the time was always on the edge of summer thunderstorms.

I remember as a child seeing a storm brewing to the south of the river and then veer off so all we got was the tail end of it!

This I witness every summer without fail. The odd times we did have an overhead storm was if it came from the North-west. Did the river play a part in the direction the storms would take?

So I now live in Portslade 4 miles west of Brighton. The same thing seems to happen here! Last Tuesday night is prime example! <_<

MCS heads towards Kent, storms also Hampshire area, here in the middle one rumble and 2mm of rain! This patten repeats for the 5 years I have lived here!

Where are those so called Spainish plumes I used to hear about as a teenager!!!

One last point, any one else noticed that the sound of thunder ( when we do here it hear on the coast!) sounds so much different to inland?

Any views?

[Neilsouth]

Where are those so called Spainish plumes I used to hear about as a teenager!!!

It seems to affect the eastern areas of kent mostly in the last few years , dover/folkstone seem to be prime areas.. However the last mcs

was partly over me and over east kent. What an amazing sight it was too <_<

[SnowJoke]

I think some places see more storms and others less due to the topography of the landscape, differences in the land affect thermals and steering winds ect. As for the differences in audible thunder, if there is a storm near the coast or out to sea the sound waves have very little to reverb from. If you imagine sound as a radiating shockwave, the thunder will radiate downwards and then accross the seas surface layer as this will normally be the first point of contact for the sound waves. However thunder inland has lots of things to reverberate off of, a good example is hearing a crack of thunder echo and bounce around a area of mountains or hills.

Snowjoke.

[SnowBear]

Best way I would describe the sound waves for thunder, and why sometimes it seems to be loud, sometimes not, sometimes be quite then get louder, and visa versa is to drop a pebble into a small garden pond or similar, and watch how the radiating waves interact as they bounce off the sides etc. In some parts the wave is made larger due to a rebound meeting the original wave (amplify), sometimes they cancel.

[johnholmes]

can't really fault the above 2 posts for their explanation.

Its a very complex issue and the more one knows and understands the more complex it appears!

[Thunderman]

Thanks for the replies chaps.

[Snowyowl9]

Why do some areas of the UK seem thunderstorm hotspots where as others totally miss out?

When I was living in Cambridgeshire ( St. Ives) our town 99% of the time was always on the edge of summer thunderstorms.

The same thing seems to happen here! Last Tuesday night is prime example! :o

One last point, any one else noticed that the sound of thunder ( when we do here it hear on the coast!) sounds so much different to inland?

Any views?

Wales is another place thunderstorms are much less common than other parts of the UK, yesterday and today are great eg`s not even a shower today, as other places east have seen storms.

Once the fresher north or west comes then I only expect showers.

There`s those very rare occasions when a thunderstorm does come from the west here just once as I`ve seen maybe more with thundery showers(rumbles) when it`s not warm/humid beforehand as thats the only time it does happen otherwise when a cold front comes from the west/NW then but usually the best storms are to our east.

Last Tuesday was excellent to say the least for thunderstorms as the much warmer upper air/ humid unstable air came from the SE.

I`m more than happy with what I`ve seen so far better than last year to this date by far.

Never actually heard thunder by the coast.