The Mysterious Calm before the Storm By Jessica Toothman Have you ever spent an afternoon in the backyard,maybe grilling or enjoying a basketball game,when suddenly you notice that everything goes quiet?The air seems still and calm-even the birds stop singing and quickly retumn to their nests. After a few minutes,you feel a change in the air,and suddenly a line of clouds ominously appears on the horizon-clouds with a look that tells you they aren't fooling around.You quickly dash in the house and narrowly miss the first fat raindrops that fall right before the downpour.At this moment,you might stop and ask yourself,"Why was it so calm and peaceful right before the storm hit?" It's an intriguing phenomenon that people have recognized for centuries,but what on earth causes this calm?And there is an old phrase "calm before the storm",often used in its figurative meaning-a quiet period just before a great activity or excitement.According to our own experience,we know there is literally calm before the storm.But what causes this calm?And is it always calm before the storm?Let's hear what scientists have to say. The answer is sometimes there is;sometimes there isn't.Under the right conditions, an eerie or peaceful calm will befall your picnic before a storm moves in.Other storms skip the calm and proudly announce their presence by instantly unleashing bad weather. A period of calm happens in a particular kind of storm,the simplest kind of storm-a single-cell thunderstorm.In this type of thunderstorm,there is usually only one mainThe Mysterious Calm before the Storm By Jessica Toothman Have you ever spent an afternoon in the backyard, maybe grilling or enjoying a basketball game, when suddenly you notice that everything goes quiet? The air seems still and calm—even the birds stop singing and quickly return to their nests. After a few minutes, you feel a change in the air, and suddenly a line of clouds ominously appears on the horizon—clouds with a look that tells you they aren’t fooling around. You quickly dash in the house and narrowly miss the first fat raindrops that fall right before the downpour. At this moment, you might stop and ask yourself, “Why was it so calm and peaceful right before the storm hit?” It’s an intriguing phenomenon that people have recognized for centuries, but what on earth causes this calm? And there is an old phrase “calm before the storm”, often used in its figurative meaning—a quiet period just before a great activity or excitement. According to our own experience, we know there is literally calm before the storm. But what causes this calm? And is it always calm before the storm? Let’s hear what scientists have to say. The answer is sometimes there is; sometimes there isn’t. Under the right conditions, an eerie or peaceful calm will befall your picnic before a storm moves in. Other storms skip the calm and proudly announce their presence by instantly unleashing bad weather. A period of calm happens in a particular kind of storm, the simplest kind of storm—a single-cell thunderstorm. In this type of thunderstorm, there is usually only one main