When Lightning Strikes Out of a Blue Sky". DNews. Archived from the original on November 1, 2015 . Retrieved October 15, 2015.

The earliest detector invented to warn of the approach of a thunderstorm was the lightning bell. Benjamin Franklin installed one such device in his house. [140] [141] The detector was based on an electrostatic device called the 'electric chimes' invented by Andrew Gordon in 1742. a b Lu, Gaopeng; Cummer, Steven A; Blakeslee, Richard J; Weiss, Stephanie; Beasley, William H (2012). "Lightning morphology and impulse charge moment change of high peak current negative strokes". Journal of Geophysical Research: Atmospheres. 117 (D4): n/a. Bibcode: 2012JGRD..117.4212L. CiteSeerX 10.1.1.308.9842. doi: 10.1029/2011JD016890. Warner, Tom A.; Lang, Timothy J.; Lyons, Walter A. (2014). "Synoptic scale outbreak of self-initiated upward lightning (SIUL) from tall structures during the central U.S. Blizzard of 1-2 February 2011". Journal of Geophysical Research: Atmospheres. 119 (15): 9530–9548. Bibcode: 2014JGRD..119.9530W. doi: 10.1002/2014JD021691. Some high energy cosmic rays produced by supernovas as well as solar particles from the solar wind, enter the atmosphere and electrify the air, which may create pathways for lightning bolts. [170] Lightning and climate changeMinin, V. F.; Baibulatov, F. Kh. (1969). "On the nature of beaded lightning". Dokl. Akad. Nauk SSSR. 188 (4): 795–798. Witzke, Megan; Rumbach, Paul; Go, David B; Sankaran, R Mohan (November 7, 2012). "Evidence for the electrolysis of water by atmospheric-pressure plasmas formed at the surface of aqueous solutions". Journal of Physics D. 45 (44): 442001. Bibcode: 2012JPhD...45R2001W. doi: 10.1088/0022-3727/45/44/442001. S2CID 98547405. Although rare, lightning can also travel from one cloud to another (or more!). Spider lightning refers to long, horizontal moving flashes often seen on the underside of stratiform clouds. (Not to be confused with intracloud lightning within a single cloud).

A beautiful and deadly natural phenomenon, lightning is simply a sudden, electrostatic discharge - a ‘spark’ or ‘flash’ as charged atmospheric regions temporarily equalise themselves through this discharge. The polarity of lightning discharge can affect how it spreads and branches in space and time. This, as well as its starting and ending points and direction of movement, give rise to different ‘types’ of lightning. Lightning can strike the ground, the air, or inside clouds, but there are roughly 5 to 10 times more cloud flashes than cloud-to-ground flashes. This refers to a discharge that jumps from a cloud into clear air and terminates abruptly – indeed, CG lightning contains CA lightning via the branches that extend from the main channel into the mid-air. However, the most dramatic examples occur when long, bright lightning channels extend from the sides of cumulonimbus clouds. Ground-to-Cloud (GC) Lightning The loss of lower charge regions in the dissipating stage of a thunderstorm, leaving the primary positive charge region. A related term, heat lightning, is any lightning or lightning-induced illumination too far away for thunder to be heard. Heat lightning got its name because it is often seen on hot summer nights when thunderstorms are common. Cloud-to-Cloud (CC) Lightning (or intercloud lightning)Holton, James R.; Curry, Judith A.; Pyle, J. A. (2003). Encyclopedia of atmospheric sciences. Academic Press. ISBN 9780122270901. Archived from the original on November 4, 2017.

On Earth, the lightning frequency is approximately 44 (± 5) times per second, or nearly 1.4 billion flashes per year [33] and the median duration is 0.52 seconds [34] made up from a number of much shorter flashes (strokes) of around 60 to 70 microseconds. [35] Because the concentrated charge within the cloud must exceed the insulating properties of air, and this increases proportionally to the distance between the cloud and the ground, the proportion of CG strikes (versus CC or IC discharges) becomes greater when the cloud is closer to the ground. In the tropics, where the freezing level is generally higher in the atmosphere, only 10% of lightning flashes are CG. At the latitude of Norway (around 60° North latitude), where the freezing elevation is lower, 50% of lightning is CG. [37] [38] Bench collapse sparks lightning, roiling clouds". Volcano Watch. United States Geological Survey. June 11, 1998. Archived from the original on January 14, 2012 . Retrieved October 7, 2012.Cloud-to-ground (CG) lightning primarily originates in the thundercloud and terminates on an Earth surface, but may also occur in the reverse direction, that is ground to cloud. Main article: Distribution of lightning Data from space-based sensors reveal the uneven distribution of worldwide lightning strikes. Units: flashes/km2/yr. Data obtained from April 1995 to February 2003 from NASA's Optical Transient Detector and from January 1998 to February 2003 from NASA's Lightning Imaging Sensor. Upward lightning or ground-to-cloud lightning is a lightning flash which originates from the top of a grounded object and propagates upward from this point. This type of lightning can be triggered by a preceding lightning flash, or it may initiate entirely on its own. The former is generally found in regions where spider lightning occurs, and may involve multiple grounded objects simultaneously. [105] The latter usually occurs during the cold season and may be the dominant lightning type in thundersnow events. [106]

a b Christian, Hugh J.; McCook, Melanie A. "A Lightning Primer – Characteristics of a Storm". NASA. Archived from the original on March 5, 2016 . Retrieved February 8, 2009. As negatively charged leaders approach, increasing the localized electric field strength, grounded objects already experiencing corona discharge will exceed a threshold and form upward streamers. Ribbon lightning occurs in thunderstorms with high cross winds and multiple return strokes. The wind will blow each successive return stroke slightly to one side of the previous return stroke, causing a ribbon effect. [95]Sprites are electrical discharges that occur high above active thunderstorms. Sprites appear as vertical red columns extending up to 60 miles from the cloud top and have been found to occur in conjunction with and/or as a reaction to +CG lightning. Sprites are mostly red, faintly lit (thus only visible at night), and only last a few seconds, making them nearly invisible to the naked eye and difficult to photograph. Their shape has been described as resembling columns, carrots or jellyfish! Electrification (Figure 1) The main charging area in a thunderstorm occurs in the central part of the storm where the air is moving upward rapidly (updraft) and temperatures range from −15 to −25°C (5 to −13°F). This is the most common type of discharge and refers to lightning embedded within a single storm cloud, which jumps between different charge regions in the cloud. Scott, A (2000). "The Pre-Quaternary history of fire". Palaeogeography, Palaeoclimatology, Palaeoecology. 164 (1–4): 281. Bibcode: 2000PPP...164..281S. doi: 10.1016/S0031-0182(00)00192-9. Ribbon Lightning occurs in thunderstorms with high cross winds and many return strokes. The wind blows each successive return stroke sideways into the previous return stroke, causing a ribbon effect (Camera movement during the capture of a lightning photograph can also result in the same effect).