Lightning and Tornadoes in Sochi

 Sochi is a beautiful place to visit and has many great things to see, but just like everywhere else in the world it's quirks. As you can see in the pictures below, there have been lightning phenomena. Figure one shows a forked lightning. It is a forked lightning when negative charges build up and split in both directions to form other rays of lightning. Figure two however, shows a forked lightning as well as a zigzag. Lighting is dangerous for people because it can cause fires, and destroy peoples' homes, and kill people.

Figure 1: Forked lighting with many offshoots in the skies of Sochi right above the black sea.

Figure 2: Forked lightning with a zigzag near it.

 One of the most deadly and violent disasters this planet experiences are tornadoes. Besides the cool lightning types, there have been incidents of tornadoes in Sochi.  Figure 3 below shows a tornado right above the Black Sea in Sochi. A tornado is caused by cold and hot air coming together, a big humidity difference, or a jet stream (Allen, notes). The tornado in the picture below touching the sea's surface, but does not hit ground as seen in video 1. This is called a waterspout. This has a major impact on people because if they do not take safety precautions they will die. 

Figure 3: Tornado on the surface of the Black Sea in Sochi, Russia.

 

Video 1: Tornado on the Black Sea.The people in this video are not very smart for 

standing in the sea and watching the tornado approach them. They should be running and hiding under a bridge or in a bathroom.

Sources:
Professor Allen's notes: http://fast.ucdenver.edu/case/1202/Climate/Weather/Weather.html

Pictures from :
http://www.sochi-travel.info/articles/category/multimedia/

Video:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WYgwF1L41r8&feature=related