Severe Weather Phobia

Category: File - :Mesoscale discussion 2009-05-04.gif|thumb|alt=A mesoscale discussion predicting a possible supercell thunderstorm phenomenon in the late evening, with risks of large hail|An example of a mesoscale discussion.

In the United States, mesoscale discussions are issued by the Storm Prediction Center, discussing the severe weather threat in the area outlined by the discussion.

Severe weather is any dangerous meteorological or hydro-meteorological phenomena, of varying duration, with risk of causing major damage, serious social disruption and loss of human life. While types of severe weather phenomena can vary depending on the latitude, atitude, topography, and atmospheric conditions of a region, general forms of severe weather include: thunderstorms, hurricanes, hailstorms, tornadoes, heavy precipitation, and damaging downburst winds. More localized severe weather phenomena are characterized by blizzards, snowstorms, ice storms, and duststorms that can only occur at certain regions. Extreme temperature variations caused by heat waves and cold waves can also be considered forms of severe weather. The term severe weather is generally used to describe significant weather occurrences which develop during strong to severe thunderstorms, tropical cyclones, or extratropical cyclones.

Extratropical cyclones can contain phenomena such as squall lines within their warm sector, tornadoes near their warm front, snow storms within their comma-head precipitation pattern, as well as heavy lake-effect snows and ground blizzards in their wake. Along the east coast of North America, extratropical cyclones which develop from fall into the spring are known as nor'easters. During the warm season, tropical cyclones move across the tropics and subtropics of the globe, bringing heavy rainfall, high winds, and significant storm surges to places near their path. Severe thunderstorms contain hazards such as high winds, hail, tornadoes, and lightning, which can also cause outbreaks of wildfires. Severe weather can occur within larger thunderstorm complexes such as squall lines and other types of mesoscale convective systems.

There is frequent incorrect usage of the terms severe weather and extreme weather, as there is a tendency to refer the two terms as synonyms.

A phobia (from the , phóbos, meaning "fear" or "morbid fear") is an intense and persistent fear of certain situations, activities, things, animals, or people. The main symptom of this disorder is the excessive and unreasonable desire to avoid the feared subject. When the fear is beyond one's control, and if the fear is interfering with daily life, then a diagnosis under one of the anxiety disorders can be made.Edmund J. Bourne, The Anxiety & Phobia Workbook, 4th ed, New Harbinger Publications, 2005, ISBN 1-57224-413-5.

Phobias are the most common form of anxiety disorders. An American study by the National Institute of Mental Health (NIMH) found that between 8.7% and 18.1% of Americans suffer from phobias.Kessler et al., Prevalence, Severity, and Comorbidity of 12-Month DSM-IV Disorders in the National Comorbidity Survey Replication, June 2005, Archive of General Psychiatry, Volume 20 Broken down by age and gender, the study found that phobias were the most common mental illness among women in all age groups and the second most common illness among men older than 25.