Does heat lightning exist8/7/2023 ![]() When the oppositely-charged leader and streamer connect, a powerful electrical current begins flowing. As it nears the ground, the negatively charged stepped leader causes streamer channels of positive charge to reach upward, normally from taller objects in the area, such as a tree, house, or telephone pole. This stepped leader is invisible to the human eye, and shoots to the ground in less time than it takes to blink. In the most common type of cloud-to-ground lightning (CG), a channel of negative charge, called a stepped leader, will zigzag downward in roughly 50-yard segments in a forked pattern. If the plane is below the cloud, then a CG flash could result. Lightning can also be triggered by aircraft flying through strong electric fields. Upward triggered lightning usually occurs in response to a natural lightning flash, but on rare occasions can be “self-triggered”-usually in winter storms with strong winds. Triggered lightning starts at the “ground,” which in this case may mean the top of a tower, and travels upward into the cloud, while “natural” lightning starts in the cloud and travels to ground. ![]() Artificially initiated lightning is associated with things like very tall structures, rockets and towers. ![]() Charge distribution in a typical storm cloud ĭoes lightning go up or down? There are two ways that flashes can strike ground: naturally downward (those that occur because of normal electrification in the environment), and artificially initiated or triggered upward. ![]()
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