What is lightning?

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“Here is an article about lightning,” says Kimmy. “I wonder if they mention anything about thunder. Hey Yeti did you ever hear what parents used to tell their children whenever there was the sound of thunder? My father also told us this. Whenever we would hear the sound of thunder that meant that God was bowling. How silly is that? Ok, time to read on!”

‘Lightning is a giant spark of electricity in the atmosphere between clouds, the air, or the ground. In the early stages of development, air acts as an insulator between the positive and negative charges in the cloud and between the cloud and the ground. When the opposite charges build up enough, this insulating capacity of the air breaks down and there is a rapid discharge of electricity that we know as lightning. The flash of lightning temporarily equalizes the charged regions in the atmosphere until the opposite charges build up again.

Lightning can occur between opposite charges within the thunderstorm cloud (intra-cloud lightning) or between opposite charges in the cloud and on the ground (cloud-to-ground lightning).

Lightning is one of the oldest observed natural phenomena on earth. It can be seen in volcanic eruptions, extremely intense forest fires, surface nuclear detonations, heavy snowstorms, in large hurricanes, and obviously, thunderstorms.’ (Source) 

“Oh, here is some information on thunder,” Kimmy says.  

Continue - What causes thunder? 

Story beginning – Rain, rain go away