When positive lighting strikes it is forced to go around the negatively charged base of the cloud, this generally results in a more powerful lighting strike which shoots out sideways and sometimes can travel a mile more away from the storm cloud before connecting with the ground. The nature of this type of lightning strike is where get the term 'a bolt from the blue'. Most lightning strikes originate from the negative part of a cloud, however occasionally a strike can come from the positively charged top part - this is called 'positive lightning'. The term lightning 'strike' refers to cloud-to-ground lightning, where lightning 'strikes' the ground. A lightning flash is what you can see, but this is often made up of several individual lighting strokes which are pulses of current which occur separately if though only hundredths of a second apart. Lightning flashes and lightning strikesĪlthough often assumed to be the same thing, there is a key distinction between lightning flashes and lighting strikes. As the attraction between the cloud and the ground grows stronger, electrons shoot down from the cloud cutting through the air at around 270,000 miles per hour. This leaves the ground and the objects on it with a positive charge. The path they make in doing so forms the channel we see during a flash of lightning.Īs negative charge builds at the base of the cloud, the electrons near the ground's surface are repelled. If the attraction is strong enough, the electrons will rapidly move towards the positive atoms. As well as being attracted to the positive charge in the top of the cloud, the surplus of electrons in the cloud base are attracted to positive charge in other clouds and on the ground. The hail continues to fall through in the lower part of the cloud, giving it a negative charge. The updraughts continue to carry the ice particles upwards, giving the top of the cloud a positive charge. During these collisions, electrons are transferred to the hail giving the hail a negative charge, while the ice particles that have lost electrons gain a positive charge. Some of the hail that forms becomes too heavy to be propelled by the updraughts and so begin to fall back through the cloud, bumping into smaller ice particles as they do so. Some of the pieces of ice grow into hail, but others remain very small.

We have to allow such cookies in order to generate a cost-covering income that enables us to offer this website and our service.As tiny water droplets form inside a storm cloud, they are propelled towards the top of the cloud by strong internal winds (updraughts) where they turn to ice. The intention of advertisers is to display ads that are relevant and engaging for the individual user and thereby are more valuable for the advertisers and users. Statistic Statistic cookies help us to understand how, when, and from where visitors interact with our websites by collecting and reproting information anonymously.Īdvertising Advertising cookies can be used by advertisers to track visitors across websites. These include the cookies LANGUAGE, MAP, DISPLAYSTR, DISPLAYDET and SOUND, which were used for the language currently set, the last map displayed, the settings last used to display strikes and detectors and the setting currently used for playing sound. Preferences Preference cookies enable a website to remember information that changes the way the website behaves or looks, like your preferred language or the map you are looking at. The website cannot function properly without these cookies. Technically necessary Necessary cookies make a website usable by enabling basic functions like page navigation and access to secure areas of the website.

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