A clip from Discovery Channel's "Raging Planet" on the subject of lightning. If you find lightning a facinating and beautiful force, then check this clip out. The camera technology has gotten to where scientists have been able to record and playback a lightning strike at over 200X slower with really cool results.
VIDEO HERE (3:16 minutes)
This is a cool video. I have a link here that shows lightning strikes as they happen. It is helpful when a storm approaches from over Lake Michigan, or at least it is interesting.
ReplyDeleteAwesome video.
ReplyDeletePositive streams, rising from the ground. Who knew?
Just shows to go you in a thunderstorm, no place out in the open is safe.
Even in clear air. After a storm passes, the air will still be charged. The potential may be great enough to generate a discharge.
DeleteA few pople have been struck by lightning under a clear sky.
That is why I used to say the odds of an individual winning big in the lottery are less than the odds of being struck by lightning under a clear sky.
I saw another video sometime back. It showed a very small bolt originating from the earth with the larger bolt tracing it back down from the clouds
ReplyDeleteNOAA has various classifications of lightning: cloud to cloud, cloud to ground, ground to cloud.
Delete"Conventional Current Flow", as understood by most people, is Positive (+) to Negative (-). In truth, ACTUAL *electron flow* is from negative to positive. This is why the lightning seems to rise up - it does. What we are seeing is the DIFFERENCE in potential looking for the path of least resistance to make an arc and equalize. The earth has an abundance of electrons and the cloud-generated static has a depletion of electrons, hence the attraction. Clouds can also generate differences in potential between each other, with one cloud mass being more positive than another. When these charges overcome the gap and arc to equalize, we see it as cloud to cloud lightning.
ReplyDeleteEd
Oh yeah, thanks for posting this Ken!
ReplyDeleteEd
200x is not so slow. There are cameras which shoot one million+ frames/second.
ReplyDeleteIf you go to YouTube and watch, there are several other lightning videos with up to 1,750,000 frame per second, plus some other pretty cool ones.
DeleteEd
A few years ago we had really severe thunder storm going here in western WA. They're not really commen here and I went down and was standing in my open garage door watching the water to make sure my garage didn't flood. My skin started tingling all over and a couple seconds later a lightning bolt hit the fir tree in my neighbor's yard. The strike was about 150 feet from where I was standing. I'll never forget the brightness and the noise. Makes you want to grab your rear pockets to make sure your ass is still attached.
ReplyDeleteNever forget watch my brother grab the metal feed door of the barn and watching all his hair stand on end…(thinking wow that’s weird)…then bam 💥 a lightning strike in the barn yard about 50’ away, bro got slammed back into the silage bin (soft landing) jumped up and was brushing his head like it was on fire, he wasn’t, but said it felt that way. He complained of tingling for a few days after but nothing long lasting.
ReplyDeleteDrew in Michigan