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A lightning strike or lightning bolt is a lightning event in which an electric discharge takes place between the atmosphere and the ground. Most originate in a cumulonimbus cloud and terminate on the ground, called cloud-to-ground (CG) lightning.
The North and South Poles and the areas over the oceans have the fewest lightning strikes. The place where lightning occurs most often is above the Catatumbo river, which feeds Lake Maracaibo in Venezuela, where the so-called Catatumbo lightning flashes several times per minute, with lightning happening up to 300 nights a year. This gives Lake ...
In fact, lightning can, and often does, strike the same place more than once. Lightning in a thunderstorm is more likely to strike objects and spots that are more prominent or conductive. For instance, lightning strikes the Empire State Building in New York City on average 23 times per year. [166] [167] [168]
How many volts are in a lightning strike? A typical lightning bolt carries about 300 million volts and 30,000 amps, according to the NWS. Compare that to the typical household's electric current ...
Lightning strikes over the Milwaukee area on Wednesday, Oct. 20, 2021. Not all lightning hits the ground; most of it stays within the clouds. When it does reach the ground, it travels at around ...
Lightning is infrequent, 6–10 cloud-to-ground strikes in a five-minute period. 4 Scattered thunderstorms. Lightning is frequent, 11–15 cloud-to-ground strikes in a 5-minute period. 5 Numerous thunderstorms. Lightning is frequent and intense, greater than 15 cloud-to-ground strikes in a five-minute period. 6
Airplanes act as a lightning rod and often initiate the lightning strike. The bolt will hit one point of the plane, like the nose and travel throughout until it finds the exit, like the wing tip ...
There are about 40,000 thunderstorms per day across the globe, generating roughly 100 lightning strikes per second, [1] which can be thought to charge the Earth like a battery. Thunderstorms generate an electrical potential difference between the Earth's surface and the ionosphere, mainly by means of lightning returning current to ground ...