When a cold downdraft hits the surface, it spreads laterally. The leading edge of this parcel is the gust front. A microburst is a downward moving blast of cold air. When dry air is entrained into the cumulonimbus cloud, it chills the air and being dry, evaporates some of the precipitation. This cold air then descends toward the ground aided by the downward moving precipitation.
Polar air is usually dry and a thunderstorm needs warm moist maritime air.
The area has proximity to sources of large areas of warm water such as the Atlantic Ocean and the Gulf of Mexico. In addition the atmosphere becomes unstable in the afternoons due to the surface warming. Kansas has greater temperature gradients supported by warm Gulf air that aid in creating severe storms. Describe one process by which thunderstorms become electrified. Supercooled droplets freeze on contact with graupel and release latent heat.