Why Do We Have Lightning Storms

The lightning discharge heats the air rapidly and causes it to expand.

Why do we have lightning storms.

The two biggest threats associated with most thunderstorms are lightning and flash floods. Lightning is an electrical discharge caused by imbalances between storm clouds and the ground or within the clouds themselves. Read more about nssl s lightning research here. There is still much research that needs to be done to fully understand this process.

Lightning is one of the oldest observed natural phenomena on earth. Owing to the fact thunderstorms are created by intense heating of the earth s surface they are most common in areas of the globe where the weather is hot and humid. Most lightning occurs within the clouds. What we see as a flash of lightning may actually be four different strokes in exactly the same place one right after another.

It can be seen in volcanic eruptions extremely intense forest fires surface nuclear detonations heavy snowstorms in large hurricanes and obviously thunderstorms. Most thunderstorms last about 30 minutes and are typically about 15 miles 24 km in diameter. A build up of positive charge builds up on the ground beneath the cloud attracted to the negative charge in the bottom of the cloud. Keep an eye at the sky.

That s why lightning appears to flicker. All thunderstorms have ice in the upper portions of the storm. Click here to see if there are any active warnings in your area. When lightning strikes finding the right shelter may not always be easy.

Look for darkening skies flashes of. That s correct but one thing you should never do during thunderstorms is lie down on the ground. Thunder is created when lightning passes through the air. Most lightning happens inside a cloud but sometimes it happens between the cloud and the ground.

To understand why thunderstorms occur more often during the warm months requires some understanding of thunderstorm basics. Immediately after the flash the air cools and contracts quickly. It is estimated that a lightning strike hits somewhere on the earth s surface approximately 44 times every second a total of nearly 1 4 billion lightning strikes every year. Here are the best tips on what to do if stuck outdoors during a thunderstorm.

The ground s positive charge concentrates around anything that sticks up trees lightning conductors even people. Lightning safety tips if you re outdoors.