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Lightning causes thunder! Energy from a lightning channel heats the air briefly to around 50,000 degrees Fahrenheit, much hotter than the surface of the sun. This causes the air to explode outward.
What causes lightning?
Lightning is an electrical discharge caused by imbalances between storm clouds and the ground, or within the clouds themselves. Most lightning occurs within the clouds. This heat causes surrounding air to rapidly expand and vibrate, which creates the pealing thunder we hear a short time after seeing a lightning flash.
How are lightning and thunder caused?
Lightning is a discharge of electricity. A single stroke of lightning can heat the air around it to 30,000°C (54,000°F)! This extreme heating causes the air to expand explosively fast. The expansion creates a shock wave that turns into a booming sound wave, known as thunder.
What does it mean when thunder is really loud?
If the thunder sounds more like a rumble, the lightning was at least several miles away. The loud boom that you sometimes hear is created by the main lightning channel as it reaches the ground. Remember, if you can hear thunder, chances are that you’re within striking distance of the storm.
Does all lightning hit the ground?
Does lightning strike from the sky down, or the ground up? The answer is both. Cloud-to-ground (CG) lightning comes from the sky down, but the part you see comes from the ground up. A typical cloud-to-ground flash lowers a path of negative electricity (that we cannot see) towards the ground in a series of spurts.
Where does lightning strike the most?
The most lightning-struck location in the world Lake Maracaibo in Venezuela is the place on Earth that receives the most lightning strikes. Massive thunderstorms occur on 140-160 nights per year with an average of 28 lightning strikes per minute lasting up to 10 hours at a time.
What does it mean when thunder shakes your house?
Why does the house shake when there is a thunder storm? Your house will shake depending the closeness of the lightning. Thunder is a sonic boom that comes from the rapid heating of the air around a lightning strike. Sonic booms cause massive shaking to nearby objects (your house).
Should you shower when it’s lightning?
Lightning can travel through plumbing. It is best to avoid all water during a lightning storm. Do not shower, bathe, wash dishes, or wash your hands.
Are airplanes safe from lightning?
Planes all over the world get struck by lightning almost daily. While some travelers may feel that this would be an unpleasant experience, modern jetliners are designed to cope with lightning strikes. They go through specific lightning tests to make sure they can withstand hits as part of their certification.
Why is thunder so loud in Florida?
Florida’s peninsula is surrounded by water that is relatively cooler than the afternoon temperatures over land. As temperatures heat up each afternoon, there is a lot of energy for thunderstorms to use up, grow tall and produce excessive lightning. Florida is not the only place with sea-breeze thunderstorms.
Can thunder crack windows?
The sudden heating of a metal window frame might cause enough expansion to crack the window. The accompanying thunder is caused by the shock wave from the channel of superheated plasma that the lightning bolt creates between the ground and the cloud. This could also shatter a window if it was close enough.
What is the 30 30 rule for lightning?
Don’t forget the 30-30 rule. After you see lightning, start counting to 30. If you hear thunder before you reach 30, go indoors. Suspend activities for at least 30 minutes after the last clap of thunder.
What color lightning is the strongest?
White – this is by far one of the most dangerous color of lightning due to the fact that this type of lightning is the hottest. This color can indicate a low concentration of moisture in the air as well as a high concentration of dust in the air.
Why is there lightning but no rain?
Dry thunderstorm refers to thunder and lightning that occur without bringing rain to the ground. In fact, the thunder-bearing clouds do produce rain but the rain droplets have evaporated in the air before reaching the ground. The anvil cloud is so high that rain coming from it evaporates before reaching the ground.
Why is the lightning green?
Green lightning does indicate that the cloud is extremely tall, and because thunderclouds are the tallest clouds, green is a warning sign that large hail or a tornado is on the way. Spewing an ash cloud into the atmosphere. Volcanic ash often contains lightning bolts, a phenomenon known as volcanic lightning.
Why does Lake Maracaibo have so much lightning?
The storms are thought to be the result of winds blowing across Lake Maracaibo and the surrounding swampy plains. The heat and moisture collected across the plains create electrical charges and, as the air masses are destabilized by the mountain ridges, result in thunderstorm activity.
Which state gets the most lightning?
According to a 2020 report published by the Earth Networks Total Lightning Network, in 2019, Texas had 16,032,609 in-cloud and cloud-to-ground lightning strikes, the highest number of any state in the country, with Kansas, Nebraska, Oklahoma, Florida, Missouri, South Dakota, Iowa, Colorado, and New Mexico rounding out Jul 6, 2021.
What happens when lightning strikes water?
When lightning strikes, most of electrical discharge occurs near the water’s surface. Most fish swim below the surface and are unaffected. Although scientists don’t know exactly just how deep the lightning discharge reaches in water, it’s very dangerous to be swimming or boating during a thunderstorm.
Should I unplug stuff during a storm?
Anything that’s plugged into an outlet in your home is at risk of suffering damage from an electrical surge during thunderstorms. If an electrical storm has been forecast, unplug your computer, laptop, and other devices, and consider unplugging appliances.
Is it safe to watch TV in a thunderstorm?
Electrical appliances can be damaged even without lightning striking your house. That’s why it’s an advantage to disconnect electrical appliances such as your TV. It isn’t dangerous to watch TV during a thunderstorm, but the electronics in a TV set are vulnerable.
How do you know if lightning struck the ground?
Here’s what you need to know. You See Tall, Bright White Clouds. You Can Hear the Thunder Approaching. You See Your Hair Standing on End or Feel Tingling. You Taste Something Metallic. You Smell the Scent of Ozone in the Air. You Start to Get Dizzy or Sweat. You Can Hear Vibrating, Buzzing, or Crackling.
