Lightening Facts

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  Lightning is a powerful burst of electricity that happens very quickly during a thunderstorm.
• Lightning is caused by an electrical charge in the atmosphere that is unbalanced.
• The movement of rain and ice inside a thundercloud creates an electrical charge, with the negative charge (electrons) forming at the bottom of the cloud and the positive charge (protons) forming at the top.
• Opposites attract so the negative charge at the bottom of the cloud seeks out a positive charge to connect with.
• Lightning can occur inside clouds, between clouds and from clouds to the ground.
• Around one quarter of lightning is from cloud to ground.
• When lightning strikes the ground it seeks out the shortest route to something with a positive charge, this might be a tree, a tall building or if they’re very unlucky, a person.
• Thousands of people are struck by lightning every year.
• Direct lightning strikes are usually fatal.
• Lightning rods (also called conductors) are metal rods or similar objects that divert lightning safely to the ground, they can often be seen at the top of tall buildings.
• Most lightning occurs over land rather than oceans, with around 70% of it occurring in the Tropics.
• There are bolts of lightning striking somewhere on Earth every second.
• Lightning strikes usually last around 1 or 2 microseconds.
• Lightning contains millions of volts of electricity.
• Thunder is the sound caused by lightning. Read our thunder facts for more.
• The average temperature of lightning is around 20000 °C (36000 °F).
• Lightning is usually produced by cumulonimbus clouds that are very tall and dense.
• Lightning can also occur during volcanic eruptions, dust storms, snow storms, forest fires and tornadoes. 
• The study of lightning is known as fulminology.
• Astraphobia is the fear of thunder and lightning.
• The Tampa Bay ice hockey team that play in the National Hockey League (NHL) are called the Lightning.