Terms Related to Floods

helps to fuel the thunderstorm. This updraft ranges from approximately forty kilometers per hour to up to one hundred kilometers per hour, depending on the thunderstorm strength.

• Wall cloud – this is a sudden lowering of the thunderstorm cloud along the line between rain free air and the thunderstorm. This cloud is attached to the thunderstorm cloud and may rotate, causing a tornado.

TERMS RELATED TO FLOODS

if you live in an area where there is flooding, you will need to understand several terms if you are to report the weather. Here are some common flood related terms:

• Bankfull - this is the tallest height a river can reach before it overflows along its banks. A person who lives in this type of area may experience damage to the property if the Bankfull is exceeded; however, some rivers can accommodate this overflow.

• Coastal flooding – you will see this along ocean coastlines. They can be associated with high or persistent winds offshore, high tide areas, or a storm surge prior to a hurricane.

• Flash flooding – this is a sudden flood that you often see after a dam breaks or after heavy and sudden rainfall. These especially affect the smaller creeks that can easily overflow their banks and flood the land large distances away from their shores.

• Flood stage – the flood stage is different from the Bankfull. A river can overflow its banks but not cause anything near the flood stage. The flood stage depicts the height of water necessary to cause some type of property damage in the area.

• Urban flooding – this is flooding after a heavy rainfall in urban areas, largely because there is a lot of pavement that cannot absorb so much water in such a short period of time. These can become dangerous to pedestrians and automobiles.