2 Minute Thunderstorms
For a couple of years, I've noticed that when we have thunderstorms in the area I'm in, they sometimes only last for a couple of minutes, then the sky clears up and things are back to normal.
There are usually only two or three sounds of thunder and a streak or two of lightning and then it's gone. I had never experienced these types of storms, because when I was growing up storms always lasted much longer than this.
I'm not saying that all of the storms that occur are short-lived, but the ones that are make me wonder just what's going on in this vast universe.
http://climate.ncsu.edu/edu/k12/.thunderstorm
Thunderstorm develops under certain circumstances so depending on for instance variables like heat moisture and wind they can either die out quickly or sustain itself longer.
Typically, if there is little wind shear, the storm will rapidly enter the dissipating stage and 'rain itself out',[8] but, if there is sufficient change in wind speed and/or direction, the downdraft will be separated from the updraft, and the storm may become a supercell, where the mature stage can sustain itself for several hours.[12]
You must live in New Orleans, its like that here.