Bright-Banding - Term used in radar interpretation to describe an area of stronger than expected radar echoes. This signature occurs in the location of the melting level in the atmosphere, which is where snowflakes are melting into raindrops. During this transition, the snowflakes become large and very wet, causing the radar to see them as very large raindrops. Bright-banding is commonly seen as a concentric ring of anomalously high reflectivities centered on the radar site.

Tornado Warning - One is issued by the National Weather Service when a tornado is indicated by the WSR-88D radar or sighted by spotters; therefore, people in the affected area should seek safe shelter immediately. They can be issued without a Tornado Watch being already in effect. Tornadic thunderstorms commonly produce large hail and damaging winds as well.

Warm Air Advection - A transport of warm air that occurs due to winds blowing from a region of warmer air into an area of cooler air. When warm air advection occurs, the warmer air will rise over the cooler air, due to the higher density of cold air. Meteorologists look for regions of strong warm air advection when diagnosing where air will be rising in the atmosphere.

Elves - A rarely seen phenomenon that can occur above thunderstorms that produce cloud to ground lightning. Elves are seen as a rapidly expanding circular disk that can extend to a diameter of up to 300 miles across. It is thought that elves are the result of an energetic electromagnetic pulse that extends into the ionosphere.

Nacreous Clouds - Nacreous clouds are rare and are rarely found too far south of the poles. They form at an impressive elevation between 68,000 to 100,000 ft where temperatures are at or below -108F. They appear as large thin discs which tend to reflect vivid colors. Due to their high elevations, they can only be seen when the sun is just below the horizon.

Tornado - A violently rotating column of air that reaches the ground from the bottom of a severe thunderstorm. Tornadoes become visible due to clouds associated with them as well as the dust and debris that get sucked into them. The US sees more tornadoes than any country in the world as around 1,200 can be expected each year.

Anvil - The flat, spreading top of a cumulonimbus cloud, often shaped like an anvil. Anvils are a result of strong winds near the top of the thunderstorm. Thunderstorm anvils may spread hundreds of miles downwind from the thunderstorm itself, and sometimes may spread upwind.