Expert clarifies

Storm alarm! Why supercells are dangerous

Supercells bring violent storms with hail, gale-force winds and tornadoes.

(Bild: ROGER HILL / Science Photo Library / picturedesk.com)

These days, Austria is once again threatened by severe thunderstorms - also due to so-called supercells. An expert from Geosphere Austria told Krone+ what their formation has to do with screws and football throws, how to recognize them and why they are dangerous.

Cyclone alert in Istria, dramatic flooding in southern Germany with fatalities, land under water in parts of Austria too. And, unfortunately, that's not the end of the storms - (more) supercells are threatening to sweep over us these days. Not unusual per se: "Around ten percent of all thunderstorms are supercells," says climate researcher Georg Pistotnik from Geosphere (formerly ZAMG), immediately explaining what these threatening weather phenomena are all about.