A Thermometer for Stormy Skies
Every spring, the sky over the US Great Plains starts behaving like a giant steam boiler. Warm, moist air from the Gulf of Mexico collides with dry air from the west, and in that mix, thunderstorms are born that can rip the roof off a barn in minutes. Meteorologists have long tracked the 'fuel' for such storms, but so far they have mostly looked at average values.