# Pulse storm

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Thunderstorm that produces severe weather for short periods

A **pulse storm** is a [single cell](/source/Storm_cell) [thunderstorm](/source/Thunderstorm) of substantial intensity which only produces [severe weather](/source/Severe_weather) for short periods of time. Such a storm weakens and then generates another short burst – hence "pulse". The term was coined by researchers at the [National Severe Storms Laboratory](/source/National_Severe_Storms_Laboratory) in 1979 to describe a single [storm cell](/source/Storm_cell) briefly becoming severe within a cluster of [multi-cellular thunderstorms](/source/Multi-cellular_thunderstorm), but has since been used to describe a variety of isolated and brief thunderstorms with both severe and non-severe characteristics.[1]

## Description

Single cell thunderstorms ordinarily form in environments with low [wind shear](/source/Wind_shear) and moderate instability, with the low wind shear contributing to a short average lifespan of less than an hour.[2] When the instability, calculated by [convective available potential energy](/source/Convective_available_potential_energy) (CAPE), is strong, the [updraft](/source/Updraft) will bring a larger amount of humid air very high above ground and generate a [cumulonimbus cloud](/source/Cumulonimbus_cloud) with high water and ice content.[3] When the rain content, and even [hail](/source/Hail), falls from it, they can generate damaging winds brought about by [downbursts](/source/Downburst). Rarely, a weak [tornado](/source/Tornado) develops in association with a pulse storm as the environment is only weakly sheared, or not at all.[4]

## Life cycle

Life cycle of a pulse storm.

One can distinguish three stages in the evolution of a pulse storm:[3]

- Formation: the upward current of the cell intensifies and allows the condensation of water vapor from the rising air parcel. This forms a [cumulus congestus](/source/Cumulus_congestus) or a [towering cumulus](/source/Towering_cumulus), then a [cumulonimbus](/source/Cumulonimbus) when ice crystals form at its apex which spreads horizontally in contact with the tropopause.

- Maturity: downdrafts are emerging. This stage is accompanied by characteristic phenomena such as [lightning](/source/Lightning) and [thunder](/source/Thunder), [showers](/source/Shower_(precipitation)), and [gust front](/source/Outflow_boundary).

- Dissipation: the cold pool descending from the cloud extends to the Earth's surface and helps to block the feed by pushing the updraft downstream. The [outflow](/source/Outflow_(meteorology)) can then serve as a trigger for other single cell or even multi-cell thunderstorms to develop because the Outflow boundary is a lifting mechanism for updrafts because it can force more warm humid air into the atmosphere.

## See also

- [Project NIMROD](/source/Project_NIMROD)

## References

1. **[^](#cite_ref-1)** Miller, Paul W.; Mote, Thomas L. (May 2017). ["Standardizing the Definition of a "Pulse" Thunderstorm"](https://doi.org/10.1175%2FBAMS-D-16-0064.1). *Bulletin of the American Meteorological Society*. **98** (5): 905–913. [doi](/source/Doi_(identifier)):[10.1175/BAMS-D-16-0064.1](https://doi.org/10.1175%2FBAMS-D-16-0064.1).

1. **[^](#cite_ref-2)** Jeff Haby. ["What is a pulse storm?"](http://www.theweatherprediction.com/habyhints2/400/). *www.theweatherprediction.com*. Retrieved February 20, 2020.

1. ^ [***a***](#cite_ref-IL_3-0) [***b***](#cite_ref-IL_3-1) Departement of Atmospheric Sciences. ["Evolution of a Single Cell Storm"](http://ww2010.atmos.uiuc.edu/(Gh)/guides/mtr/svr/type/sngl/ev.rxml). *ww2010.atmos.uiuc.edu*. University of Illinois. Retrieved 2020-02-19.

1. **[^](#cite_ref-4)** ["Pulse storm"](https://forecast.weather.gov/glossary.php?letter=p). *Glossary*. US National Weather service. Retrieved February 20, 2020.

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