Lightning is a gigantic electrical spark. A spark that can be 5 miles 8 kilometers long. It would take up to 80 million car batteries to equal the power of one thunderbolt.
A single lightning flash has enough energy to light a watt bulb for three months! Light travels faster than sound. That's why we usually see lightning before we hear the thunder. Intra-cloud lightning is the most frequently occurring type.
Intra-cloud lightning most commonly occurs between the upper anvil portion and lower reaches of a given thunderstorm. This lightning can sometimes be observed at great distances at night as so-called " sheet lightning ".
In such instances, the observer may see only a flash of light without hearing any thunder. Another term used for cloud—cloud or cloud—cloud—ground lightning is "Anvil Crawler", due to the habit of charge, typically originating beneath or within the anvil and scrambling through the upper cloud layers of a thunderstorm, often generating dramatic multiple branch strokes.
These are usually seen as a thunderstorm passes over the observer or begins to decay. The most vivid crawler behavior occurs in well developed thunderstorms that feature extensive rear anvil shearing.
Objects struck by lightning experience heat and magnetic forces of great magnitude. The heat created by lightning currents traveling through a tree may vaporize its sap, causing a steam explosion that bursts the trunk. As lightning travels through sandy soil, the soil surrounding the plasma channel may melt, forming tubular structures called fulgurites.
Even though roughly 90 percent of people struck by lightning survive, humans or animals struck by lightning may suffer severe injury due to internal organ and nervous system damage. Buildings or tall structures hit by lightning may be damaged as the lightning seeks unintended paths to ground. By safely conducting a lightning strike to ground, a lightning protection system can greatly reduce the probability of severe property damage.
Lightning also serves an important role in the nitrogen cycle by oxidizing diatomic nitrogen in the air into nitrates which are deposited by rain and can fertilize the growth of plants and other organisms.
Because the electrostatic discharge of terrestrial lightning superheats the air to plasma temperatures along the length of the discharge channel in a short duration, kinetic theory dictates gaseous molecules undergo a rapid increase in pressure and thus expand outward from the lightning creating a shock wave audible as thunder. Since the sound waves propagate not from a single point source but along the length of the lightning's path, the sound origin's varying distances from the observer can generate a rolling or rumbling effect.
Perception of the sonic characteristics is further complicated by factors such as the irregular and possibly branching geometry of the lightning channel, by acoustic echoing from terrain, and by the typically multiple-stroke characteristic of the lightning strike.
An observer can approximate the distance to the strike by timing the interval between the visible lightning and the audible thunder it generates. A lightning flash preceding its thunder by one second would be approximately m 0. A flash preceding thunder by five seconds would indicate a distance of approximately one mile 1.
Consequently, a lightning strike observed at a very close distance will be accompanied by a sudden clap of thunder, with almost no perceptible time lapse, possibly accompanied by the smell of ozone O 3. Lightning at a sufficient distance may be seen and not heard; there is data that a lightning storm can be seen at over miles whereas the thunder travels about 20 miles.
Anecdotally, there are many examples of people saying 'the storm was directly overhead or all-around and yet there was no thunder'. Called thundersnow, relatively strong instability and abundant moisture may be found above the surface, such as above a warm front, rather than at the surface where it may be below freezing.
Thundersnow is sometimes observed downstream of the Great Salt Lake and the Great Lakes during lake-effect snowstorms, too. What happens to the ground when lightning strikes it? What tends to happen when lightning strikes ground is that it fuses dirt and clays in to silicas. The result is often a glassy rock called a fulgurite in the shape of a convoluted tube. Fulgurite has been found all over the world, but is relatively rare. The color depends on the minerals in the sand that was struck.
The shape in the ground is the shape of the path the lightning current followed in the ground. There is often damage to grasses along this path too. What is fulgurite? Fulgurite is brittle, glassy formations caused by a lightning strike to sandy soil. The lightning heats the soil and fuses the soil particles together surrounding the path of the channel, resulting in a hollow tube-like formation shaped like the section of lightning that formed it.
Does lightning always strike the tallest object? Never say always! It makes sense that the tallest object is most attractive, because it is the easiest path for the lightning to take. Can lightning strike the same place twice? Yes, lightning does hit the same spot or almost the same spot more than once, contrary to folk wisdom. Taller objects are more likely than shorter objects to produce the upward channel. But it is also possible that something that locally affects the ability of the ground to conduct electricity such as the salt or moisture content of the ground at the time, the presence or absence of rock, standing water, pipes or other metal objects in the ground, the terrain shape, the shape of leaves or twigs, or something else might make a particular location more likely than another nearby location to be struck.
What is a lightning rod? Lightning rods also called conductors are metal rods or similar objects that divert lightning safely to the ground, they can often be seen at the top of tall buildings. What is volcanic lightning? Volcanic lightning, also known as dirty thunderstorms, is capable of producing some of the most powerful and visually striking lightning storms on Earth. Not all volcanic eruptions produce lightning. When it does occur, a single eruption can create multiple, separate lightning storms.
The lightning seems to be set off by explosions during the eruption, although not all explosions cause lightning. During recent eruptions that displayed lightning, scientists observed the most intense lightning occurred at the beginning of the eruption and gradually decreased as the eruption continued, sometimes over a period of weeks. Types of Lightning What is cloud-to-ground lightning?
All lightning is dangerous, but cloud-to-ground lightning is the most dangerous type of lightning. Most cloud-to-ground lightning strikes come from the negatively charged bottom of the cloud traveling to the positively charged ground below. Cloud-to-ground lightning bolts strike the tall objects, like trees and buildings.
These lightning strikes can cause fire and property damage. Lightning is the second weather related killed. What is cloud-to-air lightning? Cloud-to-air lightning is referred to a discharge or portion of a discharge jumping from a cloud into clear air. Technically speaking, all cloud-to-ground lightning strikes contain cloud-to-air components in the many branches that extend away from the main channel and terminate abruptly in mid-air. However, the most visually dramatic examples of cloud-to-air lightning occur when a long, bright lightning channel jumps out of the side of a cumulonimbus cloud and terminates in the clear air surrounding the storm.
What is intracloud lightning? Intracloud lightning is the most common type of lightning. This occurs when there are both positive and negative charges within the same cloud.
Usually, the process takes place within the cloud and looks like a bright flash of light which flickers. What is intercloud lightning? Intercloud lightning is less common. What is an anvil crawler? An anvil crawler is lightning that branches upward and outward like a tree along the tops and sides of large thunderstorms. Anvil crawlers are sometimes referred to as spider lightning. What is forked lightning? Lightning is a bright flash of electricity produced by a thunderstorm.
All thunderstorms produce lightning and are very dangerous. If you hear the sound of thunder, then you are in danger from lightning. Lightning kills and injures more people each year than hurricanes or tornadoes; between 75 to people.
What causes lightning? Lightning is an electric current. Within a thundercloud way up in the sky, many small bits of ice frozen raindrops bump into each other as they move around in the air. All of those collisions create an electric charge. After a while, the whole cloud fills up with electrical charges. The positive charges or protons form at the top of the cloud and the negative charges or electrons form at the bottom of the cloud.
Since opposites attract, that causes a positive charge to build up on the ground beneath the cloud. The grounds electrical charge concentrates around anything that sticks up, such as mountains, people, or single trees.
The charge coming up from these points eventually connects with a charge reaching down from the clouds and - zap - lightning strikes! Have you ever rubbed your feet across carpet and then touched a metal door handle? If so, then you know that you can get shocked! Lightning works in the same way. Click Here to see where lightning is currently striking across the U. How hot is lightning? Lightning is approximately 54, degrees Fahrenheit. That is six times hotter than the surface of the sun!
What color is lightning? Lightning seems to be clear or a white-yellow color, but it really depends on the background. What causes thunder? Thunder is caused by lightning. When a lightning bolt travels from the cloud to the ground it actually opens up a little hole in the air, called a channel. Once then light is gone the air collapses back in and creates a sound wave that we hear as thunder. The reason we see lightning before we hear thunder is because light travels faster than sound!
How do you know if lightning is nearby? If you see dark clouds, then lightning could be present, but the best thing you can do is to listen for thunder. If you hear thunder, then you need to go indoors or get in a car. Don't be outside, where lightning could strike! If your hair stands on end or your skin starts to tingle, lightning maybe about to strike.
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