Key Information
Lightning
| Type | Electrostatic Discharges in the Atmosphere |
| Area | Worldwide, but often in tropical regions |
| Season | All year round |
| Effect | Helps improve soil and air quality, but also can be destructive where it hits on the ground |
| Forms | Intra-cloud (within the thundercloud), cloud-to-cloud (between two clouds), cloud-to-ground (between a cloud and the ground) |
Learning Point
- Lightning is a powerful force that often comes from storms. The source of thunder, there are various forms of lightning, though the most dangerous is usually lightning that strikes the ground.
Project
- Draw one of the forms of lightning we learned about.
- Overview
- Formation
Location
| Located in | Worldwide |
Fun Facts
- The place on Earth where lightning occurs most often is over Lake Maracaibo, wherein the Catatumbo lightning phenomenon produces 250 bolts of lightning a day.
- On April 29, 2020, a bolt of lightning 477.2 miles long was observed in the southern United States.
- Lightning is not instantaneous, though it travels at great speed, and can fork in different directions.
- A single flash in Uruguay and northern Argentina on June 18, 2020, lasted for 17.1 seconds.
Past Lessons
| 98 | January 22, 2024 | (North America) |