The thunderstorm is one of the familiar weather phenomena all over the world. It is one of the sudden electrical discharges accompanied by a flash of light (lightning) and a strong sound (thunder). Since the speed of light is much greater than the speed of sound, the sound of thunder lags behind the sight of lightning after approximately five seconds. The thunderstorm is accompanied by strong wind hea, rain, honing, and thunder. Nevertheless, the thunderclouds only form when controlling a state of instability, a noticeable depth of air in the atmosphere, and if the disturbed air is moist.

The study includes three topics: the first topic (Thunderstorms and their causes), the second topic (the spatial and temporal variability of thunderstorms), and the third topic (the general trend of thunderstorms in Iraq). And the problem of the study was represented (do thunderstorms vary spatially and temporally in Iraq?). The hypothesis states (thunderstorms differ spatially and temporally in Iraq). The research aims to study the frequency of thunderstorms and the ratio of cloud cover in the sky for the period (1980-2012) to report the factors that determine their occurrence and geographical distribution to determine the times when they occur and analyze the spatial and temporal variability of thunderstorms and their general direction in Iraq. The research reached several results, the most important of which are:

1. The month of April records the highest frequency of thunderstorms at all stations except for the wet station, records the month of October at an average of (2.3 days) due to the air turbulence and the rising air currents responsible for the instability as well as the increase in the condensation tendencies flying from the atmosphere which is one of the basic conditions for the formation of clouds Among them are the cumulonimbus clouds which are responsible for the formation of rainy thunderstorms. Mosul leads the stations of the study area in the frequency of thunderstorms for this month at a rate of up to (4.6 days).
2. During this period, the Mosul station took the lead in total frequency among the stations included in the study (19.8 days) due to its geographical location in northern Iraq and the passage of the Mediterranean lows.
3. The general trend of the thunderstorms is towards the increase in all the stations to reach the trend to (0.05, 0.02, 0.03, 0.05, 0.001, 0.04, 0.003) for the stations (Mosul, Baghdad, Al-Rutba, Karbala, Al-Hay, Najaf, Basra) respectively.

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