Lightning
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Lightning is a natural phenomenon consisting of electrostatic discharges occurring through the atmosphere between two electrically charged regions. One or both regions are within the atmosphere, with
Strokes of cloud-to-ground lightning strike the Mediterranean Sea off of Port-la-Nouvelle in southern France.
A bolt from the blue lightning strike which appears to initiate from a clear patch of sky, but the turbulent sky above the anvil cloud drives a bolt of plasma through the cloud directly to the ground. They are commonly referred to as positive flashes, despite the fact that they are usually negative in polarity.
Multiple paths of cloud-to-cloud lightning, Swifts Creek, Australia.
Intra-clouds lightning over the Baltic Sea.
Thunderstorm
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A thunderstorm, also known as an electrical storm or a lightning storm, is a storm characterized by the presence of lightning and thunder. Relatively weak thunderstorms are sometimes called thundersho
Lightning
…heated gases in the vicinity of the discharge experience a sudden increase in pressure. The most common occurrence of a lightning event is known as a thunderstorm, though they can also commonly occur in other types of energetic weather systems, such as volcanic eruptions. Lightning influences the global atmospheric…
Lightning from a thunderstorm near Pritzerbe, Germany
Stages of a thunderstorm's life
Thunderstorms often develop from cumulus congestus clouds.
Anvil-shaped thundercloud in the mature stage