Climate. Squall Line

Recently we have faced a lot of weird weather games like snow in the Sahara, less severe Russian winters, rainy autumn-like summers accompanied with squall lines of thunderstorms, higher temperatures in northern districts etc.

summer squall line

Why does the Atmosphere change?

Our atmosphere is dynamic. It is continually in motion due to such factors as solar radiation, ocean currents, atmospheric chemistry or the location of mountain ranges. In addition to that, people raise the atmospheric temperature by factory emissions speeding up climate change.

visualized atmosphere

What is a Squall Line?

Having a dramatic look at the coming end of the world, a squall line usually stretches for hundreds of kilometers. It moves very fast with a wind-speed about 8 metres per second! In 2-3 minutes after you notice the squall, the scenery may change tremendously. As the line of thunderstorms is a long-lived windstorm which includes rapidly moving showers. While observing a squall line you will definitely feel like a tiny ant standing in front of a tsunami.

squall lines bring thunderstorms and showers

A Squall Line has different names

“Wall of wind”, “horizontal tornado”, “derecho” are the names of this climatic phenomenon. All of them mean “straight line”. What is more, a derecho, which is typical of Northern America, nowadays may occur in the European part of the world.