Water droplets in the bottom part of the cloud are caught in the updrafts and lifted to great heights where the much colder atmosphere freezes them. Meanwhile, downdrafts in the cloud push ice and hail down from the top of the cloud. Where the ice going down meets the water coming up, electrons are stripped off. It's a little more complicated than that, but what results is a cloud with a negatively charged bottom and a positively charged top.
These electrical fields become incredibly strong, with the atmosphere acting as an insulator between them in the cloud. Lightning happens. The electric field "looks" for a doorknob. Sort of.
It looks for the closest and easiest path to release its charge. Often lightning occurs between clouds or inside a cloud. But the lightning we usually care about most is the lightning that goes from clouds to ground—because that's us! As the storm moves over the ground, the strong negative charge in the cloud attracts positive charges in the ground.
These positive charges move up into the tallest objects like trees, telephone poles, and houses. A "stepped leader" of negative charge descends from the cloud seeking out a path toward the ground. What is forked lightning? Forked lighting appears as jagged lines of light.
They can have several branches. Forked lightning can be seen shooting from the clouds to the ground, from one cloud to another cloud, or from a cloud out into the air. This lightning can strike up to 10 miles away from a thunderstorm.
What is sheet lightning? Sheet lightning appears as flashes of light that seem to light up or illuminate entire clouds. What is heat lightning? Heat lightning is a term used to describe lightning flashes that are too far away from you to hear the thunder. The reason that it is called heat lightning is that it appears most often on a hot summer day when the sky is clear overhead.
What is high-altitude lightning? High-altitude lightning has been given other names such as "red sprites," "green elves," and "blue jets. You can't see these types of lightning from the ground. What is ribbon lightning? Ribbon lightning is when a bolt of lightning separates due to wind and appears as parallel lightning streaks. What is chain or bead lightning? Chain or bead lightning is when a lightning bolt is broken into dotted lines while fading.
What is ball lightning? Ball lightning is a rare form of lightning. It usually appears as a reddish, luminous ball, but can come in any color. Ball lightning is usually spherical in shape and about one foot in diameter. Hissing noises originate from such balls and they sometimes make a loud noise when they explode. What is St. Elmo's Fire? Elmo's Fire appears as a blue or greenish glow above pointed objects on the ground.
It is created when tiny positively charged sparks reach up in response to negatively charges in the air or clouds above the ground. If a thunderstorm is nearby, St. Elmo's Fire might be seen right before a lightning strike. What is anvil lightning? Anvil lightning is a type of lightning referred to as "the bolt from the blue" because it often appears suddenly from a seemingly cloudless sky. A bolt at the top of a thunderstorm arcs away from the main cloud and strikes the ground where the skies above often appear clear.
Can you tell how far away a storm is? Yes, you can use thunder to tell how far away a storm is. Next time you see a storm, count the number of seconds between when you see the lightning and hear the thunder. Take the number of seconds and divide by 5 and that will tell you how far away the storm is in miles. For example: If you counted 10 seconds between the lightning and the thunder, the lightning is 2 miles away!
A leader reaches from the cloud to the ground below, looking for positive charges. This return stroke releases tremendous energy, bright light and thunder. They are created when leaders are created and reach from the ground to the sky looking for a leader to connect with. Know the Facts A lightning flash is no more than one inch wide.
What we see as a flash of lightning may actually be four different strokes in exactly the same place, one right after another. That's why lightning appears to flicker. Click Here to see if there are any active warnings in your area. However, it is possible that you might see lightning and not hear the thunder because it was too far away. Is lightning always produced by a thunderstorm?
Thunderstorms always have lightning thunder is caused by lightning, and you can't have a thunderstorm without thunder! What causes thunder? Thunder is caused by lightning. The bright light of the lightning flash caused by the return stroke mentioned above represents a great deal of energy. The air that is now heated to such a high temperature had no time to expand, so it is now at a very high pressure. The high pressure air then expands outward into the surrounding air compressing it and causing a disturbance that propagates in all directions away from the stroke.
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