LIGHTNING

General Statement :

Lightning is one of the most unpredictable and dangerous phenomenons in regards to weather.
Lightning is the key to a shower becoming classified as a thunderstorm, and its also one of the most
fascinating features that can get weather enthusiasts and “everyday” people both in awe. Lightning alsoJ
is essentially a giant spark that accurs either within a c;oud or between the cloud and the ground.

Squenced of Explanation :

The leading theory is that it is related to the build-up of an electrical charge as hail and smaller ice
particles collide with each other within a cumulonimbus storm cloud. Small water droplets are propelled
towards the top of the cloud by strong internal winds, or updraughts, where they turn to ice. Some of
the pieces of ice grow into hail, but others remain as small particles. Some of the hail that forms becomes
too heavy to be supported by the updraughts and so fall back through the cloud, bumping into smaller
ice particlesas they do so. During these collisions, electrons are transferred to the hail giving the hail a
negative chargewhile the ice particles that have lost electrons gain a positive charge. The updraughts
carry the smaller ice particles upwards, giving the top of the cloud a positive charge. The heavier hail
falls towards the lower part of the cloud, giving it a negative charge effectively forming the opposite
poles of a battery and inducing an electric field. As negative charge builds at the base of the cloud, the
electrons near the ground are repelled. This leaves the ground ang the objects on it with a positive
charge. As well as being attracted to the positive charge on the ground the surplus of electrons in the
cloud base are attracted to positive charge in the top of the cloud and in other clouds. As air is not a
good conductor, the electrical current does not easily flow between the opposite charges. Only when
the charge difference is large enough can a connection be made allowing current to flow to balance the
charge separation. But the current does not flow instantly. There can be many negatively charged
stepped leaders that grow or step downwards from the base of the cloud. Objects on the surface,
particularly pointed ones, respond to the strong electrical field by reaching out positive or upward
streamers. The streamer that meets the stepped leader is not necessarily the one from the tallest or closest
object. The first leader to meet a positive streamer establishes the path and allows for the sudden
massive discharge of the electrical current travelling at around 270,000 mph. This return stroke ia the
lightning flash that you see.

Closing :

Although often assumed to be the same thing, there is a key distinction between lightning flashes and
lightning strikes which are separate pulses of current yhat occur only hundredths of a second apart,
giving the flash a flickering appearance. The huge amount of electrical current in a lightning strike
produces an enormous amount of heat. The narrow channel of air through which lightning travels is
only about 2-3 cm wide but it reaches temperatures of up to 30,000 derajat celcius almost instantly.
That’s five times hotter than the surface of the sun! This heat is what we see as the brilliant white-blue
flash. It is also the cause of thunder. The rapid heating of the air produces a shockwave, which is the
thunder that we hear.