Lightning is a powerful natural electrostatic discharge of lighted streaks produced during a thunderstorm.
Lightning isn't just found in thunderstorms - it's been seen in volcanic eruptions, forest fires, heavy snowstorms, and in large hurricanes.
A lightening bolt can generate temperatures up to five times hotter than can be found on the surface of the sun.
The typical bolt of lightning heats the atmosphere to 50,000 degrees Fahrenheit.
You always see lightning before you hear thunder because light travels at more than 299 million metres per second, while sound moves at just 340 metres per second.
The number of seconds between when you see lightning and hear thunder divided by 5 = how many miles away the lightning is.
The visible flash that you see when lightning strikes is actually from the ground up to the clouds, not from the clouds down to the ground.
5% of lightning strikes are positively charged, and they can be up to 10 times stronger than a negatively-charged bolt.
Lightning strikes our planet somewhere more than seventeen million times every day, or about two hundred times every second.
The spots on the planet with the highest amount of lightning are Lake Maracaibo in Venezuela and the Democratic Republic of Congo.
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The U.S. city with the highest rate of lightning strikes per capita is Clearwater, Florida.
The worst lightning strike disaster in the 19th century occurred on June 26, 1807, when lightning struck a fortress in the Luxembourg city of Kirchberg during the Napoleonic wars. The fortress was stockpiled with weapons and ammunition and when it was struck by lightning, the ammunition burst into flames causing a huge explosion. The blast and the ensuing raging fire completely destroyed two blocks, igniting other fires in adjacent properties and causing the deaths of over 300 people.
In 1919, having pitched eight and two thirds innings in a game against the Philadelphia Athletics, Cleveland Indians pitcher Ray Caldwell was struck by lightning. Despite being knocked unconscious, he refused to leave the game. He went on to record the final out for the complete-game win.
Lightning isn't just found in thunderstorms - it's been seen in volcanic eruptions, forest fires, heavy snowstorms, and in large hurricanes.
SCIENCE
A lightening bolt can generate temperatures up to five times hotter than can be found on the surface of the sun.
The typical bolt of lightning heats the atmosphere to 50,000 degrees Fahrenheit.
You always see lightning before you hear thunder because light travels at more than 299 million metres per second, while sound moves at just 340 metres per second.
The number of seconds between when you see lightning and hear thunder divided by 5 = how many miles away the lightning is.
The visible flash that you see when lightning strikes is actually from the ground up to the clouds, not from the clouds down to the ground.
5% of lightning strikes are positively charged, and they can be up to 10 times stronger than a negatively-charged bolt.
FREQUENCY
Lightning strikes our planet somewhere more than seventeen million times every day, or about two hundred times every second.
The spots on the planet with the highest amount of lightning are Lake Maracaibo in Venezuela and the Democratic Republic of Congo.
The U.S. city with the highest rate of lightning strikes per capita is Clearwater, Florida.
HUMAN RELATED
The worst lightning strike disaster in the 19th century occurred on June 26, 1807, when lightning struck a fortress in the Luxembourg city of Kirchberg during the Napoleonic wars. The fortress was stockpiled with weapons and ammunition and when it was struck by lightning, the ammunition burst into flames causing a huge explosion. The blast and the ensuing raging fire completely destroyed two blocks, igniting other fires in adjacent properties and causing the deaths of over 300 people.
In 1919, having pitched eight and two thirds innings in a game against the Philadelphia Athletics, Cleveland Indians pitcher Ray Caldwell was struck by lightning. Despite being knocked unconscious, he refused to leave the game. He went on to record the final out for the complete-game win.
WWE Hall of Famer Ric Flair survived a lightning strike in the late 1970s. He was in Richmond, Virginia for a match against Ricky Steamboat, and had just exited a plane when he was struck by lightning. The lightning bounced off his umbrella and hit a man behind him in the eye, killing him.
On November 2, 1994, a lightning strike in Egypt led to 469 deaths after oil tanks were ignited and flooded the village of Dronka with burning fuel. The World Meteorological Organization (WMO) attributes the death toll of 469 to the lightning strike and notes the incident is the highest mortality event as a result of a lightning strike on record (dating back to 1873).
The score during a October 1998 football match in the Democratic Republic of Congo between Bena Tshadi and Basangana was 1-1 when suddenly lightning struck the pitch. All eleven Bena Tshadi players were killed while the the athletes from Basanga came out unscathed.
Lightning strikes can produce severe injuries, and have a mortality rate of between 10% and 30%, with up to 80% of survivors sustaining long-term injuries.
Over the last 20 years, the United States averaged 51 annual lightning strike fatalities, placing it in the second position, just behind floods for deadly weather.
Lightning hasn’t brought down an airplane since 1967 because modern planes possess a fuselage that acts as a Faraday cage, which is a container that blocks electromagnetic fields. The charge instead runs around the outside of the craft and disperses from the tail.
Men are struck by lightning four times more than women.
Fear of thunder and lightning is 'astraphobia'.
A person struck by lightning is more likely to suffer from Motor Neurone disease.
According to an interview he gave to Newsweek, Jim Caviezel was struck by lightning while filming the Sermon on the Mount scene for the Passion of the Christ movie.
You are 100 times more likely to be struck by lightning standing under an oak than a beech.
Early Roman law stipulated that anyone who was killed by lightning would not receive a proper burial.
Benjamin Franklin's invention of the lightning rod was blamed by religious leaders for the 1755 Cape Ann earthquake off the coast of Colonial Massachusetts. They claimed his "heretical rods" interfered with the "artillery of Heaven" and deprived God of using lightning as "tokens of His displeasure."
Over the last 20 years, the United States averaged 51 annual lightning strike fatalities, placing it in the second position, just behind floods for deadly weather.
Lightning hasn’t brought down an airplane since 1967 because modern planes possess a fuselage that acts as a Faraday cage, which is a container that blocks electromagnetic fields. The charge instead runs around the outside of the craft and disperses from the tail.
Men are struck by lightning four times more than women.
Fear of thunder and lightning is 'astraphobia'.
A person struck by lightning is more likely to suffer from Motor Neurone disease.
According to an interview he gave to Newsweek, Jim Caviezel was struck by lightning while filming the Sermon on the Mount scene for the Passion of the Christ movie.
You are 100 times more likely to be struck by lightning standing under an oak than a beech.
FUN LIGHTNING FACTS
Early Roman law stipulated that anyone who was killed by lightning would not receive a proper burial.
Benjamin Franklin's invention of the lightning rod was blamed by religious leaders for the 1755 Cape Ann earthquake off the coast of Colonial Massachusetts. They claimed his "heretical rods" interfered with the "artillery of Heaven" and deprived God of using lightning as "tokens of His displeasure."
In the late 1770s fashionable women of Paris never went out in blustery weather without a lightning rod attached to their hats.
The longest duration for a single flash of lightning is 17.102 seconds. It was documented on June 18, 2020, within a thunderstorm over Uruguay and northern Argentina. This record-capturing megaflash was captured by NOAA's GOES-16 satellite, which is able to detect lightning flashes by sensing the light and heat emitted by the lightning.
The longest duration for a single flash of lightning is 17.102 seconds. It was documented on June 18, 2020, within a thunderstorm over Uruguay and northern Argentina. This record-capturing megaflash was captured by NOAA's GOES-16 satellite, which is able to detect lightning flashes by sensing the light and heat emitted by the lightning.
The longest lightning strike on record unfurled on April 29, 2020. It was 767 kilometers (477 miles) long across three US states, stretching across Texas, Louisiana, and Mississippi. It bypassed the previous record by 60 kilometres.
Five per cent of lightning strikes are positively charged, and they can be up to ten times stronger than a negatively-charged bolt.
A bolt of lightning contains enough energy to toast 160,000 pieces of bread.
Lightning is the cause of most forest fires.
Lightning fertilizes plants. When lightning strikes, it rips nitrogen bonds in the atmosphere and the rains carry them into the soil.
Carnivorous animals will not eat another animal that has been hit by a lightning strike.
Source Europress Family Encyclopedia 1999
A bolt of lightning contains enough energy to toast 160,000 pieces of bread.
Lightning is the cause of most forest fires.
Lightning fertilizes plants. When lightning strikes, it rips nitrogen bonds in the atmosphere and the rains carry them into the soil.
Carnivorous animals will not eat another animal that has been hit by a lightning strike.
Source Europress Family Encyclopedia 1999
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