Click on the above GOES 9 imagery-it displays an excellent movie example (2,7mb) of Florida weather during the summer months. The movie begins at 1211 UTC / 8:11 EDT. This is early in the morning. Notice the relatively cloud free atmosphere.

As the day continues, the land begins to heat up by absorbing the solar energy, The formation of puffy white cumulus clouds (cotton balls), because it is a relatively clear day, is a response to that heating. These clouds begin to form at the top of the boundary layer which is about .5-1.5 miles in the atmosphere.

As the day continues, strong convection appears near Boca Raton and north of Miami, southeast of Lake Okeechobee on the coast - see time frame beginning at 16:07 UTC. It is associated with a sea breeze circulation that is formed by the differential heating of air over water and land. Continuing through the loop, the cumulus cloud/clouds continue from the boundary layer top, to the upper reaches of the troposphere. Reaching the upper limits of the troposphere, the convection ceases to grow higher due to its encounter with the increased temperatures of the stratosphere.

Now that the convection has reached the open atmosphere, the continuous rise of hot air has to go somewhere, so the only place for it to go is to spread out along the boundary of the troposphere and stratosphere (approximate time frame beginning 17:11 - 17:32 UTC). The continuous feeding of warm/hot air from the bottom of the convection causes the clouds to appear "boiling over".

The appearance of the anvil cloud and a thin wispy cloud appearing to the southeast of the storm cell in frame 18:06 UTC, provides evidence that the end of the convective process is occurring. This thin wispy cloud is being blown by the upper atmospheric winds. The entire process occurred over a time period of approximately 2 hours.

However, other processes are also occurring as this particular thunderstorm is born, grows, and dies. Other areas of convection can be seen moving on the outskirts of the original convection. This is evidence of a cold air mass spreading along the earth's surface. This cold air mass is the result of rain falling from the anvil cloud in the original convective cycle. The falling rain cools the air as it evaporates, and, due to density differences, the cooler, heavy air mass rushes to the surface and spreads along the earth's surface. This spreading of air is known as a gust front and is important in the formation of other thunderstorm cells.

Just to the north of the dissipating storm and along its edge, you can spot new convection, as well as just to the north of that convection, and to the east of Lake Okeechobee (Frame 19:28 UTC, now 3:38 p.m. EDT). With favorable conditions, enough buoyancy, strong convection will occur if these two growing cumulus clouds collide with one another, Stepping through the frames, beginning with 19:28 UTC, this begins to happen and by frame 20:02 UTC, a full blown thunderstorm is in the making. To the south of the original storm, frame 19:41, another thunderstorm is also developing.

As the day continues, the formation of other thunderstorms can be observed, especially to the west of Lake Okeechobee. These thunderstorms show very clearly the expanding cloud rings of the gust fronts. Of course on the western side of the Florida peninsula, another sea breeze can influence the development of other thunderstorms.

This has been a rather simplistic explanation of a very complex process.