Editing Thunderstorm (section)

===Mesoscale convective systems===
{{See also|Mesoscale convective system}}
[[File:June 2022 Midwest Mesoscale convective complex-derecho.jpg|thumb|left|MCC moving through the [[Great Lakes region]]: on 13 June 2022, at 18:45 UTC]]

A [[mesoscale convective system]] (MCS) is a complex of thunderstorms that becomes organized on a scale larger than the individual thunderstorms but smaller than [[extratropical cyclone]]s, and normally persists for several hours or more.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://amsglossary.allenpress.com/glossary/search?p=1&query=mesoscale+convective+system&submit=Search|title=Mesoscale convective system|date=2009|access-date=27 June 2009|author=Glossary of Meteorology|publisher=[[American Meteorological Society]]|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110606103649/http://amsglossary.allenpress.com/glossary/search?p=1&query=mesoscale+convective+system&submit=Search|archive-date=6 June 2011}}</ref> A mesoscale convective system's overall cloud and precipitation pattern may be round or linear in shape, and include weather systems such as [[tropical cyclone]]s, [[squall line]]s, [[lake-effect snow]] events, [[polar low]]s, and [[mesoscale convective complex]]es (MCCs), and they generally form near [[weather front]]s. Most mesoscale convective systems develop overnight and continue their lifespan through the next day.<ref name="Extreme Weather" /> They tend to form when the surface temperature varies by more than {{convert|5|C-change|sigfig=1}} between day and night.<ref>{{cite journal |last1 = Haerter |first1 = Jan O. |last2 = Meyer| first2 = Bettina| last3 = Nissen| first3 = Silas Boye |title=Diurnal self-aggregation |journal=npj Climate and Atmospheric Science |date=30 July 2020 |volume=3 |issue = 1 |page = 30 |doi=10.1038/s41612-020-00132-z |arxiv= 2001.04740 |bibcode = 2020npCAS...3...30H |s2cid = 220856705 }}</ref> The type that forms during the warm season over land has been noted across North America, Europe, and Asia, with a maximum in activity noted during the late afternoon and evening hours.<ref>{{cite web|author=William R. Cotton|author2=Susan van den Heever|author3=Israel Jirak|name-list-style=amp|date=2003|url=http://rams.atmos.colostate.edu/at540/fall03/fall03Pt9.pdf|title=Conceptual Models of Mesoscale Convective Systems: Part 9|publisher=[[Colorado State University]]|access-date=23 March 2008}}</ref><ref>{{cite journal|author=C. Morel|author2=S. Senesi|name-list-style=amp|date=2002|url=http://cat.inist.fr/?aModele=afficheN&cpsidt=13876728 |title=A climatology of mesoscale convective systems over Europe using satellite infrared imagery II: Characteristics of European mesoscale convective systems|journal=Quarterly Journal of the Royal Meteorological Society|issn=0035-9009|access-date=2 March 2008|volume=128|issue=584|page=1973|doi=10.1256/003590002320603494|bibcode = 2002QJRMS.128.1973M |s2cid=120021136 |doi-access=free}}</ref>

Forms of MCS that develop in the tropics are found in use either the [[Intertropical Convergence Zone]] or [[monsoon trough]]s, generally within the warm season between spring and fall. More intense systems form over land than over water.<ref>{{cite journal|author=Semyon A. Grodsky|author2=James A. Carton|name-list-style=amp|url=http://www.atmos.umd.edu/~carton/pdfs/grodsky&carton03.pdf|date=15 February 2003|publisher=[[University of Maryland, College Park]]|title=The Intertropical Convergence Zone in the South Atlantic and the Equatorial Cold Tongue|journal=Journal of Climate|volume=16|issue=4|pages=723|access-date=5 June 2009|bibcode=2003JCli...16..723G|doi=10.1175/1520-0442(2003)016<0723:TICZIT>2.0.CO;2|s2cid=10083024 }}</ref><ref>{{cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=HiaP4yJ8wNMC&pg=PA40|title=Observations of surface to atmosphere interactions in the tropics|author=Michael Garstang|author2=David Roy Fitzjarrald|pages=40–41|date=1999|isbn=978-0-19-511270-2|publisher=Oxford University Press US}}</ref> One exception is that of [[lake-effect snow]] bands, which form due to cold air moving across relatively warm bodies of water, and occurs from fall through spring.<ref>{{cite web|author=B. Geerts|date=1998|url=http://www-das.uwyo.edu/~geerts/cwx/notes/chap10/lake_effect_snow.html|title=Lake Effect Snow|access-date=24 December 2008|publisher=[[University of Wyoming]]}}</ref> Polar lows are a second special class of MCS. They form at high latitudes during the cold season.<ref>{{cite book|author=E. A. Rasmussen|author2=J. Turner|name-list-style=amp|date=2003|title=Polar Lows: Mesoscale Weather Systems in the Polar Regions|publisher=Cambridge University Press|page=612|isbn=978-0-521-62430-5}}</ref> Once the parent MCS dies, later thunderstorm development can occur in connection with its remnant [[mesoscale convective vortex]] (MCV).<ref>{{cite web|title=3.5 The Influence of the Great Lakes on Warm Season Weather Systems During BAMEX|author=Lance F. Bosart|author2=Thomas J. Galarneau Jr.|name-list-style=amp|url=http://ams.confex.com/ams/pdfpapers/84665.pdf|publisher=6th [[American Meteorological Society]] Coastal Meteorology Conference|date=2005|access-date=15 June 2009}}</ref> Mesoscale convective systems are important to the [[United States rainfall climatology]] over the [[Great Plains]] since they bring the region about half of their annual warm season rainfall.<ref>{{cite web|author=William R. Cotton|author2=Susan van den Heever|author3=Israel Jirak|name-list-style=amp|url=http://rams.atmos.colostate.edu/at540/fall03/fall03Pt9.pdf|title=Conceptual Models of Mesoscale Convective Systems: Part 9|date=Fall 2003|access-date=23 March 2008}}</ref>