Deamer, Kacey (August 30, 2016) More Than 300 Reindeer Killed By Lightning: Here's Why. Live Science Lightning at a sufficient distance may be seen and not heard; there is data that a lightning storm can be seen at over 160km (100mi) whereas the thunder travels about 32km (20mi). Anecdotally, there are many examples of people saying 'the storm was directly overhead or all-around and yet there was no thunder'. Since thunderclouds can be up to 20km high, [111] lightning occurring high up in the cloud may appear close but is actually too far away to produce noticeable thunder. NWS JetStream – The Positive and Negative Side of Lightning". National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration. Archived from the original on July 5, 2007 . Retrieved September 25, 2007. Rinnert, K. (1995). "9: Lighting Within Planetary Atmospheres". In Hans Volland (ed.). Handbook of Atmospheric Electrodynamics. CRC Press. p.204. ISBN 978-0-8493-8647-3. The requirements for the production of lightning within an atmosphere are the following: (1) a sufficient abundance of appropriate material for electrification, (2) the operation of a microscale electrification process to produce classes of particles with different signs of charge and (3) a mechanism to separate and to accumulate particles according to their charge.

Intense forest fires, such as those seen in the 2019–20 Australian bushfire season, can create their own weather systems that can produce lightning and other weather phenomena. [126] Intense heat from a fire causes air to rapidly rise within the smoke plume, causing the formation of pyrocumulonimbus clouds. Cooler air is drawn in by this turbulent, rising air, helping to cool the plume. The rising plume is further cooled by the lower atmospheric pressure at high altitude, allowing the moisture in it to condense into cloud. Pyrocumulonimbus clouds form in an unstable atmosphere. These weather systems can produce dry lightning, fire tornadoes, intense winds, and dirty hail. [126] Extraterrestrial

5. 1,400,000,000 strikes every year 

Kákona, Jakub (2023). "In situ ground-based mobile measurement of lightning events above central Europe". Atmospheric Measurement Techniques. 16 (2): 547–561. Bibcode: 2023AMT....16..547K. doi: 10.5194/amt-16-547-2023. S2CID 253187897. When the local electric field exceeds the dielectric strength of damp air (about 3 MV/m), electrical discharge results in a strike, often followed by commensurate discharges branching from the same path. Mechanisms that cause the charges to build up to lightning are still a matter of scientific investigation. [134] [135] A 2016 study confirmed dielectric breakdown is involved. [136] Lightning may be caused by the circulation of warm moisture-filled air through electric fields. [137] Ice or water particles then accumulate charge as in a Van de Graaff generator. [138] Vaisala Thunderstorm Online Application Portal". Archived from the original on September 28, 2007 . Retrieved July 27, 2007. Real-time map of lightning discharges in U.S. Positive lightning has also been shown to trigger the occurrence of upward lightning flashes from the tops of tall structures and is largely responsible for the initiation of sprites several tens of km above ground level. Positive lightning tends to occur more frequently in winter storms, as with thundersnow, during intense tornadoes [81] and in the dissipation stage of a thunderstorm. [82] Huge quantities of extremely low frequency (ELF) and very low frequency (VLF) radio waves are also generated. [83] Cloud to cloud (CC) and intra-cloud (IC)

Once a conductive channel bridges the air gap between the negative charge excess in the cloud and the positive surface charge excess below, there is a large drop in resistance across the lightning channel. Electrons accelerate rapidly as a result in a zone beginning at the point of attachment, which expands across the entire leader network at up to one third of the speed of light. [61] This is the "return stroke" and it is the most luminous and noticeable part of the lightning discharge. Sheet Lightning is a term used to describe clouds illuminated by a lightning discharge where the actual lightning channel is either inside the clouds or below the horizon (i.e. not visible to the observer). Although often associated with IC lightning, it is any lightning hidden by clouds or terrain aside from the flash of light it produces. Staying Safe in Lightning Alley". NASA. January 3, 2007. Archived from the original on July 13, 2007 . Retrieved September 24, 2007. The first known photograph of lightning is from 1847, by Thomas Martin Easterly. [6] The first surviving photograph is from 1882, by William Nicholson Jennings, [7]a photographer who spent half his life capturing pictures of lightning and proving its diversity. Dry lightning is lightning that occurs with no precipitation at the surface and is the most common natural cause of wildfires. [93] Pyrocumulus clouds produce lightning for the same reason that it is produced by cumulonimbus clouds [ citation needed]. This term is mainly used in Australia, Canada, and the United States.

a b Ceranic, Irena (November 28, 2020). "Fire tornadoes and dry lightning are just the start of the nightmare when a bushfire creates its own storm". ABC News. Australian Broadcasting Corporation. The rapidly changing currents also create electromagnetic pulses (EMPs) that radiate outward from the ionic channel. This is a characteristic of all electrical discharges. The radiated pulses rapidly weaken as their distance from the origin increases. However, if they pass over conductive elements such as power lines, communication lines, or metallic pipes, they may induce a current which travels outward to its termination. The surge current is inversely related to the surge impedance: the higher in impedance, the lower the current. [69] This is the surge that, more often than not, results in the destruction of delicate electronics, electrical appliances, or electric motors. Devices known as surge protectors (SPD) or transient voltage surge suppressors (TVSS) attached in parallel with these lines can detect the lightning flash's transient irregular current, and, through alteration of its physical properties, route the spike to an attached earthing ground, thereby protecting the equipment from damage. Lewton, Thomas (December 20, 2021). "Detailed Footage Finally Reveals What Triggers Lightning". Quanta Magazine . Retrieved December 21, 2021. Yair, Yoav; Aviv, Reuven; Ravid, Gilad; Yaniv, Roy; Ziv, Baruch; Price, Colin (2006). "Evidence for synchronicity of lightning activity in networks of spatially remote thunderstorms". Journal of Atmospheric and Solar-Terrestrial Physics. 68 (12): 1401–1415. Bibcode: 2006JASTP..68.1401Y. doi: 10.1016/j.jastp.2006.05.012. Holton, James R.; Curry, Judith A.; Pyle, J. A. (2003). Encyclopedia of atmospheric sciences. Academic Press. ISBN 9780122270901. Archived from the original on November 4, 2017.

Each re-strike is separated by a relatively large amount of time, typically 40 to 50 milliseconds, as other charged regions in the cloud are discharged in subsequent strokes. Re-strikes often cause a noticeable " strobe light" effect. [66]a b Krehbiel, Paul R; Riousset, Jeremy A; Pasko, Victor P; Thomas, Ronald J; Rison, William; Stanley, Mark A; Edens, Harald E (2008). "Upward electrical discharges fromthunderstorms". Nature Geoscience. 1 (4): 233. Bibcode: 2008NatGe...1..233K. doi: 10.1038/ngeo162. S2CID 8753629. R. I. Albrecht; S. J. Goodman; W. A. Petersen; D. E. Buechler; E. C. Bruning; R. J. Blakeslee; H. J. Christian. "The 13 years of TRMM Lightning Imaging Sensor: From individual flash characteristics to decadal tendencies" (PDF). NASA Technical Reports Server . Retrieved November 23, 2022.