What causes lightning?

Lightning is produced in thunderstorms when liquid and ice particles above the freezing level collide, and build
up large electrical fields in the clouds. Once these electric fields become large enough, a giant "spark" occurs
between them (or between them and the ground) like static electricity, reducing the charge separation. The
lightning spark can occur between clouds, between the cloud and air, or between the cloud and ground.

As seen in the photo above, cloud-to-ground lightning usually occurs near the boundary between the updraft
region (where the darkest) clouds are, and the downdraft/raining region (with the lighter, fuzzy appearance).
Sometimes, however, the lightning bolt can come out of the side of the storm, and strike a location miles away,
seemingly coming out of the clear blue sky.

As long as a thunderstorm continues to produce lightning, you know that the storm still has active updrafts and
is still producing precipitation. The temperature inside a lightning bolt can reach 50,000 degrees F, hotter than
the surface of the sun. Objects that are struck by lightning can catch on fire, but since the flash is so brief,
objects can also show little or no evidence of burning at all.


What causes thunderstorms?
Thunderstorms form when an air mass becomes so unstable that it overturns (convects) violently. "Unstable"
means that the air in the lowest layers is unusually warm and humid, or that the upper layers are unusually cool,
or oftentimes, both.

Pockets of rising near-surface air in an unstable air mass expand and cool, and as some of the water vapor
present condenses into a cloud it releases heat, which then makes the air parcel even warmer, forcing it to rise
still higher in the atmosphere.

If the lower level air is sufficiently warm and humid, and the higher altitude air is sufficiently cool, this process
continues until a tall convective cloud -- the thunderstorm -- is formed. The result can be a storm extending as
high as 40,000 to 60,000 feet (8 to 12 miles). The upper portions of the storm -- even in the warm tropics -- are
made of ice: ice crystals, graupel, snow, and sometimes hail. About 50% of the rain reaching the surface in a
thunderstorm originated as ice in the upper reaches of the storm.

The updrafts in thunderstorms can be very strong -- 50 knots or more -- which can help support the weight of
hailstones as they grow. Such updrafts cause extreme turbulence for aircraft, which will only fly through the
strongest portions of thunderstorms if the pilots have no other choice. Despite the large stresses this puts on
planes (and their passengers), modern jet aircraft are designed to withstand those stresses.

The following enhanced photograph shows the classic supercell thunderstorm, a particularly large, intense, and
destructive storm that can produce large hail and tornadoes:


Thunderstorms are most common in the afternoon over land, when daytime heating of the land by the sun
causes the lower part of the troposphere to become unstable from higher temperatures and more water vapor in
the air.

Or, some thunderstorms can form as result of the upper atmosphere becoming unusually cool, due to the
approach of an upper air disturbance. In this case storms can form at any time of day, even when there hasn't
been daytime heating of the lower atmosphere over land.

There must be sufficient water vapor in order for the storm to form, since cloud and precipitation originates as
water vapor. This is the fuel for the thunderstorm. As the storm uses this fuel, it is converted to rainfall.
Eventually, the storm stabilizes the atmosphere by using up the excess water vapor and cooling the lower
atmosphere, and warming the upper atmosphere.

Technically, lightning must be produced in order for the resulting cloud system to be called a thunderstorm. A
discussion of what causes lightning can be found here.
Interesting facts:
NATURE'S AWESOME POWER It is estimated that there are around 44,000 thunderstorms that occur around
the Earth every day. The average thunderstorm releases the energy equivalent of a 20 kiloton nuclear weapon, or
a small nuclear power plant.
Thunder is caused by the rapid expansion of the air surrounding the
path of a lightning bolt.
From the clouds to a nearby tree or roof, a lightning bolt takes only a few thousandths of a
second to split through the air. The loud thunder that follows the lightning bolt is commonly
said to come from the bolt itself. However, the grumbles and growls we hear in
thunderstorms actually come from the rapid expansion of the air surrounding the lightning
bolt.
As lightning connects to the ground from the clouds, a second stroke of lightning will return
from the ground to the clouds, following the same channel as the first strike. The heat from
the electricity of this return stroke raises the temperature of the surrounding air to around
27,000 C (48,632 F). Since the lightning takes so little time to go from point A to point B,
the heated air has no time to expand. The heated air is compressed, raising the air from 10 to
100 times the normal atmospheric pressure. The compressed air explodes outward from the
channel, forming a shock wave of compressed particles in every direction. Like an explosion,
the rapidly expanding waves of compressed air create a loud, booming burst of noise.
Because electricity follows the shortest route, most lightning bolts are close to vertical. The
shock waves nearer to the ground reach your ear first, followed by the crashing of the shock
waves from higher up. Vertical lightning is often heard in one long rumble. However, if a
lightning bolt is forked, the sounds change. The shock waves from the different forks of
lightning bounce off each other, the low hanging clouds, and nearby hills to create a series of
lower, continuous grumbles of thunder.

Thunder Fun Facts:
To judge how close lightning is, count the seconds between the flash and the thunderclap.
Each second represents about 300m (984.25ft).
Thunder is not only heard during thunderstorms. It is uncommon, but not rare, to hear
thunder when it is snowing.
Lightning does not always create thunder. In April 1885, five lightning bolts struck the
Washington Monument during a thunderstorm, yet no thunder was heard.