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Thunder is created when lightning passes through the air. The lightning discharge heats the air rapidly and causes it to expand. 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.
- What Causes Lightning?
- How Does The Lightning "Know" Where to Discharge—Or Strike?
- What Causes Thunder?
- How Likely Is Lightning to Strike A person?
- How Can I Stay Safe in A Lightning Storm?
- What Does Lightning Look Like from Space?
Watch this video to learn about what causes lightning! Click here to download this video (1920x1080, 102 MB, video/mp4). So, do thunderclouds have rubber shoes? Not exactly, but there is a lot of shuffling going on inside the cloud. Lightning begins as static charges in a rain cloud. Winds inside the cloud are very turbulent. Water droplets in the ...
The electric field "looks" for a doorknob. Sort of. It looks for the closest and easiest path to release its charge. Often lightning occurs between clouds or inside a cloud. But the lightning we usually care about most is the lightning that goes from clouds to ground—because that's us! As the storm moves over the ground, the strong negative charge ...
In a fraction of a second, lightning heats the air around it to incredible temperatures—as hot as 54,000 °F (30,000 °C). That's five times hotter than the surface of the Sun! The heated air expands explosively, creating a shockwave as the surrounding air is rapidly compressed. The air then contracts rapidly as it cools. This creates an initial CRAC...
Each year, about 400 people in the U.S. are struck by lightning while working or playing outside. About 50 people are killed and several hundred more are left to cope with permanent disabilities. The summer months of June through September are the deadliest as far as lightning is concerned. In 2022, 19 people died across the US from lightning strik...
Here are some important rules to remember about lightning safety: 1. First rule of lightning safety: No place outside is safe near a thunderstorm. 2. Plan your outdoor activities so that you can get to a safe place in case a thunderstorm develops. 3. Remember: When thunder roars, go indoors! If you can hear thunder, the storm is near enough to you ...
Lightning observed by the GOES-16 Geostationary Lightning Mapper (GLM) illuminates the storms developing over southeast Texas on the morning of February 14, 2017. Lightning is an important part of weather forecasting. The Geostationary Lightning Mapper instrument on the GOES-R series satellites can detect lightning activity over nearly the whole We...
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Lightning is the most spectacular element of a thunderstorm. Learn how lightning forms, how lightning leads to thunder, and about the types of lightning that occur.
Because light travels through the air roughly a million times faster than sound does, you can use thunder to estimate the distance to lightning. Just count the number of seconds from the time you see a flash until you hear thunder.
Thunder is the sound caused by lightning. Depending upon the distance from and nature of the lightning, it can range from a long, low rumble to a sudden, loud crack. The sudden increase in temperature and hence pressure caused by the lightning produces rapid expansion of the air in the path of a lightning bolt.
Mar 14, 2021 · Learn how to use the time between lightning and thunder to tell how far away lightning is. See how many seconds indicates one mile.
Lightning causes thunder, a sound from the shock wave which develops as gases in the vicinity of the discharge heat suddenly to very high temperatures. It is often heard a few seconds after the lightning itself.
