What powers earth's weather?

Answer 1

Presence or absence of the sun's heat. More simpler than that, the sun.

The sun causes the gravitational pull in space. As the Earth rotates, there are hotter and cooler sides of the Earth, depending on the time. So that is why it gets cooler in a given spot at night. In addition, since Earth revolves around the sun, and the Earth sits at an angle, that causes different areas to be warmer or cooler than others for a number of months. That is the most basic.

Carrying on from that is how we get wind. Wind is caused by a difference in temperature between two areas, and the heat tries to rush to where it is cooler. In some cases, the wind can become violent enough to be a storm in itself, even if there is no rain. If the conditions are right, the wind can spiral and form a funnel shape. That can be invisible until debris is picked up. If it starts over land, then it can be a tornado, but if it starts over water and water is picked up, then that is a hurricane. The difference is in where it starts and/or what debris is in it. And it is possible for a hurricane to convert into a tornado as it moves over land.

Rain is because the heat (again from the sun) causes evaporation and the air holds the moisture, and cloud formation is a part of this. However, the air can only hold so much moisture. Once a tipping point is reached or a cold front comes, then we have rain. Then the cycle repeats with more evaporation. If vapor in the air suddenly comes into contact with freezing air, then the precipitation will be in the form of snow or sleet. That is not the same as freezing rain where rain freezes on the way down.

Thunderstorms are because the clouds have differing electrical charges. Not only is there the cooling of the vapor which produces rain, but also clouds becoming electrically grounded. This is much like rubbing your feet on a carpet and then you drawing an electrical arc as you touch the screw near a light switch or even another person ("Hey, you shocked me!"). However this arcing in the sky is very powerful and can set trees (or houses) on fire or kill people, as well as damage electrical appliances. The reason lightning and thunder don't seem to occur at the same time has to do with the difference in light and sound. Sound is created by air pressure, and since air has the ability to become compressed, the more air there is between you and the thunder clouds, the more delay there will be between the lightning and the thunder. It really happens at the same time, but the air gets compressed and causes the delay in the sound.