1926
Search results
The information here is based on data from MSS's Lightning Detection System (LDS). The LDS comprises a network of four lightning sensors located islandwide that detects cloud-to-ground and cloud-to-cloud lightning strokes. MSS's LIS Website displays cloud-to-ground and/or cloud-to-cloud lightning strokes within the last 30 minutes.
Lightning is a natural phenomenon formed by electrostatic discharges through the atmosphere between two electrically charged regions, either both in the atmosphere or one in the atmosphere and one on the ground, temporarily neutralizing these in a near-instantaneous release of an average of between 200 megajoules and 7 gigajoules of energy ...
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. "Sheet lightning" describes ...
Jul 13, 2024 · 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.
See lightning strikes in real time across the planet. Free access to maps of former thunderstorms. By Blitzortung.org and contributors.
National Geographic explores the science behind lightning strikes. Lightning strikes during thunderstorms kill more Americans each year than either tornadoes...
Jul 11, 2024 · If we are watching the sky, we see the lightning before we hear the thunder. That is because light travels much faster than sound waves. We can estimate the distance of the lightning by counting how many seconds it takes until we hear the thunder. It takes approximately 5 seconds for the sound to travel 1 mile.
Jun 24, 2005 · The odds of being struck in your lifetime is 1 in 3,000. • Lightning can kill people (3,696 deaths were recorded in the U.S. between 1959 and 2003) or cause cardiac arrest. Injuries range from ...
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. The huge pressure in the initial outward shock wave decreases rapidly with increasing distance and within ten yards or so has become small enough to ...
Apr 5, 2023 · Lightning channel develops. It is invisible to the human eye and shoots to the ground in a series of rapid steps, each occurring in less time than it takes to blink. As the negative leader approaches the ground, positive charge collects in the ground and in objects on the ground. This positive charge "reaches" out to the approaching negative ...
