What is lightning

Thunderbolt is a magnificent and somewhat daunting discharge accompanied by lightning and thunder. Lightning generally occurs in cumulonimbus clouds where convection develops, so it is often accompanied by strong gusts and torrential rains, sometimes accompanied by hailstorms and tornadoes. Lightning is one of the ten most serious natural disasters.

The top of the cumulonimbus cloud is generally high, up to 20 kilometers, and the upper part of the cloud often has ice crystals. The attachment of ice crystals, the crushing of water droplets, and the convection of air cause charges to form in the clouds. The distribution of the charge in the cloud is more complicated, but overall, the upper part of the cloud is dominated by positive charges, and the lower part is dominated by negative charges. Therefore, a potential difference forms between the upper and lower parts of the cloud. When the potential difference reaches a certain level, it will produce a discharge, which is our common lightning phenomenon.

The average lightning current is 30,000 amps and the maximum current can reach 300,000 amps. The lightning voltage is very high, about 100 to 1 billion volts. A medium-intensity thunderstorm can reach 10 million watts, which is equivalent to the output power of a small nuclear power plant. During the discharge process, the sudden increase in temperature in the lightning channel causes the air volume to expand rapidly, resulting in a shock wave that causes intense thunder.

When the charged cloud of lightning approaches the protrusions on the ground, intense discharge occurs between them. Intense flashes and explosion roars occur at lightning discharge locations. The lightning thunder that people see and hear is a natural phenomenon in the atmosphere.