Why Do We Have Lightning Storms

Most thunderstorms last about 30 minutes and are typically about 15 miles 24 km in diameter.

Why do we have lightning storms.

Immediately after the flash the air cools and contracts quickly. Most lightning occurs within the clouds. Lightning safety tips if you re outdoors. 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 happens inside a cloud but sometimes it happens between the cloud and the ground. The cdc says that even at 100 feet away the electric current from lightning that runs on the. All thunderstorms have ice in the upper portions of the storm. Here are the best tips on what to do if stuck outdoors during a thunderstorm.

Look for darkening skies flashes of. To understand why thunderstorms occur more often during the warm months requires some understanding of thunderstorm basics. When lightning strikes finding the right shelter may not always be easy. That s correct but one thing you should never do during thunderstorms is lie down on the ground.

Keep an eye at the sky. Lightning is an electrical discharge caused by imbalances between storm clouds and the ground or within the clouds themselves. That s why lightning appears to flicker. The two biggest threats associated with most thunderstorms are lightning and flash floods.

The ground s positive charge concentrates around anything that sticks up trees lightning conductors even people. Lightning is one of the oldest observed natural phenomena on earth. Read more about nssl s lightning research here. Click here to see if there are any active warnings in your area.

Thunder is created when lightning passes through the air. How fast the ice develops the depth of the icy portion of the storm and how quickly the precipitation moves within the cloud are important to the lightning process. 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. There is still much research that needs to be done to fully understand this process.

The temperature of the air in the lightning channel may reach as high as 50 000 degrees fahrenheit 5 times hotter than the surface of the sun. The lightning discharge heats the air rapidly and causes it to expand.