Thunderstorms that form east of the rocky mountains obtain their moisture primarily from evaporated water from the gulf of mexico. that water vapor, when condensed within a thunderstorm, creates the thunderstorm's clouds and vast amounts of energy are released into the atmosphere in the form of latent heat. let's calculate how much water and energy is in a large thunderstorm complex. determine the total number of gallons of water in this storm and also the assumptions: each cubic centimeter (cm) contains 7.5*10-7 grams of water (7.5*10-7 g/cm2) the storm's dimensions are 70 km wide, 300 km long and 12 km tall. 1 gallon of water 3785 grams of water each gram of water in the cloud releases 2260 joules of energy as it condenses (2260 j/g) a 1-megaton nuclear bomb releases 4.18 x 1015 joules of energy