lightning

lightning, the visible discharge of electricity that occurs when a region of a cloud acquires an excess electrical charge, either positive or negative, that is sufficient to break down the resistance of air.

A brief description of lightning follows. For a longer discussion of lightning within its meteorological context, see thunderstorm electrification in the article thunderstorm.

Britannica Quiz

13 True-or-False Questions from Britannica’s Easiest Science Quizzes

Lightning is usually associated with cumulonimbus clouds (thunderclouds), but it also occurs in stratiform clouds (layered clouds with a large horizontal extent), in snowstorms and dust storms, and sometimes in the dust and gases emitted by erupting volcanoes. During a thunderstorm, lightning can occur within the cloud, between clouds, between the cloud and the air, or between the cloud and the ground.

Lightning occurs when regions of excess positive and negative charge develop within the cloud. Typically, there is a large volume of positive charge in the upper regions of the cloud, a large negative charge in the centre, and a small positive charge in the lower regions. These charges reside on water drops, ice particles, or both.

Cloud-to-ground lightning is initiated by a preliminary breakdown process within the cloud, typically between the centre region of negative charge and the small positive charge below it. This process creates a channel of partially ionized air—air in which neutral atoms and molecules have been converted to electrically charged ones. Next, a stepped leader (initial lightning stroke) forms and propagates downward, following channels created by the preliminary breakdown process. The leader is highly branched in the direction of its propagation. Most leader channels are negatively charged. When the stepped leader nears the ground, an upward, connecting discharge of opposite polarity rises and meets it at a point typically about 30 metres (100 feet) above the ground. When the junction is complete, the cloud is effectively connected to the ground, and a very bright return stroke propagates back to the cloud at a speed about one-third the speed of light, following the leader channel. A typical lightning flash to the ground contains three or four leader-return stroke sequences in rapid succession. Occasionally, when there is a strike to a mountain or tall building, the first leader will start at the ground and propagate upward.

The potential difference between cloud and ground is of the order of 10 to 100 million volts, and the peak currents in return strokes to negative leaders are typically about 30,000 amperes. The peak temperatures in the return-stroke channel are on the order of 30,000 °C (50,000 °F). The entire process is very rapid; the leader stroke reaches the ground in about 30 milliseconds, and the return stroke reaches the centre of the cloud in about 100 microseconds. During this stage, approximately 105 joules of energy per metre are dissipated within the lightning channel. This sudden dissipation splits air molecules in the channel—principally those of nitrogen, oxygen, and water—into their respective atoms, and, on average, one electron is removed from each atom. The conversion from neutral air molecules to a completely ionized plasma occurs in a few microseconds.

Thunder is produced by rapid heating of the air in the lightning channel and a consequent increase in air pressure. The pressure produced from the stroke plasma, which is much greater than the pressure of the surrounding atmosphere, causes the channel to expand at supersonic speeds, which ultimately produces a sound wave heard as thunder. The claps, rolls, and rumbles that characterize the sound of thunder are produced by the complex geometry and tortuosity of the lightning channel as well as the effects of the atmosphere and local topography on sound propagation.

Lightning is a significant weather hazard and occurs at an average rate of 50 to 100 discharges per second worldwide. Lightning rods and metallic conductors can be used to protect a structure by intercepting and diverting the lightning current into the ground as harmlessly as possible. When lightning is likely to occur, people are advised to stay indoors or in a car, away from open doors and windows, and to avoid contact with any electrical appliances or plumbing that might be exposed to the outside environment.