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Cloudburst vs Thunderstorm - What's the difference?

cloudburst | thunderstorm |

As nouns the difference between cloudburst and thunderstorm

is that cloudburst is a sudden heavy rainstorm while thunderstorm is a storm consisting of thunder and lightning produced by a cumulonimbus, usually accompanied with heavy rain, wind, and sometimes hail; and in rarer cases sleet, freezing rain, or snow.

cloudburst

Alternative forms

* cloud-burst

Noun

(en noun)
  • A sudden heavy rainstorm.
  • * 1899 , , "A Cup of Cold Water" in The Greater Inclination :
  • [B]ut the sound . . . expressed an utter abandonment to grief; not the cloud-burst of some passing emotion, but the slow down-pour of a whole heaven of sorrow.
  • * 1908 , , The Riverman , ch. 38:
  • A cloudburst in the China Creek district followed by continued heavy rains was responsible for the increased water.
  • * 1936 Aug. 17, " Miscellany," Time (retrieved 20 May 2014):
  • In Uniontown, Pa., John Walchesky & family rushed from their house when lightning set it afire, rushed in again when a cloudburst put out the blaze.
  • * 2007 Feb. 25, , " Devotion'', chapter 1" (book excerpt), ''New York Times (retrieved 20 May 2014):
  • [H]e walked across the lawn, wet from a fleeting late-afternoon cloudburst , the first rain in a month.

    Synonyms

    * cloudbust

    thunderstorm

    English

    Noun

    (en noun)
  • A storm consisting of thunder and lightning produced by a cumulonimbus, usually accompanied with heavy rain, wind, and sometimes hail; and in rarer cases sleet, freezing rain, or snow.