“Lightning”

by Caleb, KE0FOE

As we continue with our series covering JetStream, The National Weather Service’s new Online School for Weather, the topic this time is: Lightning.

Did you know that there are actually three different types of lightning strikes?

The most common type of lightning strike is the “Negative Strike”. Negative lightning strikes involve the transfer of negative electric charge from the cloud to the ground, and they usually consist of two or more strokes.

A less common but much more dangerous type of lightning strike is the “Positive Strike”. Positive lightning strikes account for only 5% of all lightning, but, because they travel much further from the tops of thunderstorms to the ground, they can often be 10 times stronger than negative strikes and have as much as 300,000 amps and 1 Billion volts!!!

Positive lightning strikes tend to happen more frequently during wintertime thunderstorms and during the dissipation stage of a thunderstorm. Due to their large electrical potential, positive lightning can strike as far as 25 miles away from the precipitation within the parent thunderstorm. To put this into perspective: A positive strike from a thunderstorm over Marshfield, Missouri could strike someone walking into the Battlefield Mall in Springfield.

A third and very rare type of lightning strike is known as “Bipolar Lightning”. Bipolar lightning can change its polarity from positive to negative or vice versa.

There are a lot of amazing facts along with lightning safety recommendations that you and your family can learn about on the National Weather Service’s new Online School for Weather called JetStream. Visit their website: weather.gov/jetstream