What would you classify as a "severe" storm?

[pavelneuman]

A "severe" storm - what does it mean exactly? "This is always a very arbitrary choice, so what one person might consider “severe”, another would only call “marginal”. It also depends on where you are, because if you are walking in the mountains, even one flash of lightning can be extremely dangerous. If you are sitting inside your warm, cosy house, it is not so threatening", explains Tomáš Púčik, a Researcher and Senior Trainer at ESSL (European Severe Storms Laboratory) in the interview on the EUMETSAT blog.

Tomáš also gives us the criteria a severe thunderstorm must meet to be classified as a "severe" in the ESSL's severe weather reports. To classify, it has to meet at least one of the following:

• The storm produces some wind-gust damage (if the wind exceeds 90 km per hour)
• There are hailstones larger than 2cm in diameter
• There is a tornado present
• The storm produces flash flooding

What would you classify as a severe storm? Leave a comment below.

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[machadomurilo]

And flashes, can be considered severe storm when flash appear on short interval?

[catiabraga]

𝑻𝒆𝒎𝒑𝒆𝒔𝒕𝒂𝒅𝒆𝒔 𝑪𝒐𝒏𝒗𝒆𝒄𝒕𝒊𝒗𝒂𝒔 𝑺𝒆𝒗𝒆𝒓𝒂𝒔 são tempestades
capazes de gerar granizo grande (com pedras de 2 cm ou mais de diâmetro ao atingirem a superfície) e/ou rajadas de vento com força destrutiva (velocidade acima de 50 kt/26 m/s) e/ ou tornados (JOHNS e DOSWELL, 1992, MOLLER, 2001).

Retirei do artigo do Prof. Ernani Nascimento: http://dca.iag.usp.br/…/Mesoesca…/Cap-5/ELNascimento2005.pdf