![]() |
|||||||||
![]() |
Lightning storms are generated by severe thunderstorms - called super cells. It's called a storm when lightning strikes in rapid succession, sometimes simultaneously over a relatively small region under one or more super cells. When lightning strikes, the eye is fooled into seeing only one bolt where, in reality, a series of electrostatic discharges are striking in rapid fire fashion, at 40,000 km per second, along the same path! But, there is no better way to illustrate a storm than by showing you some photographs. There are hundreds of excellent lightning photos where I found these! I could not cram them all here. This is just a representative sample. Enjoy! For a better understanding of super cell thunderstorms, and the atmospheric conditions necessary for their spectacular formation, I highly recommend Meteorology: An Introduction to the Wonders of the Weather! For more on how thunderstorms form, click here.
RETURN to How Weather Works Section PAGE |
||||||||