 Out
of the dozens of phenomena that occur in nature everyday,
lightning is by far the
most spectacular. For anyone who have witnessed it, lightning can be a
real sight to behold. Lightning is a discharge of electricity from one
point to another and is accompanied by a loud rumbling sound known as
thunder. A regular lightning bolt carry currents of 1000amps at
100million volts.
- Lightning can be
seen at night for up to a hundred mile away but is invisible during
daylight.
- Lightning even
occurs in a clear sky and can be the result of cloud discharges
miles away. Those kinds of bolts are known as "positive giants" or
"bolts from the blue".
- Thunder is caused by
the rapid displacement of air due to heat.
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Spider lightning or "crawlers" are one of the rarest kinds of
lightning. It crawls horizontally from cloud to cloud for over
70 miles and at altitudes of up to 25,000 miles. It is also the
deadliest if it strikes the ground! |
- Lightning occurs in
less than 0.25s and can travel as fast as 65,000 miles an hour.
- Unlike popular
belief, it does not travel at the speed of light but is much slower!
- In ancient Norse
mythology, the god
Thor
is associated with lightning and thunder.
- A lightning bolt can
be as thin as half an inch and is 5 times hotter than the surface of
the sun.
- Thunder can be heard
about 10 miles away at night.
- A single lightning
bolt can power a 100W bulb for 100 days.
- If you are hit by
it, you are more likely to survive if you have wet clothes than dry
ones.
- There is an average
of 8 million instances of lightning discharges on earth every single
day.
|
NEVER hide
under a tree during a thunderstorm. If you get caught up in one
and has nowhere to take refuge, switch off your phone and lie
flat on the ground! |
Deadliest Types of Lightning:
(1) Crawlers or Spider
lightning
(2) Positive Giants (can
even hit in a clear sky)
(3) Ball lightning (the
rarest)
- Florida has the
deadliest lightning casualties with twice more deaths than any other
state.
- Around 180 to 220
people die in the U.S.A every year as a result of a lightning
strike.
- The probability of
dying from lightning is much more than winning the national lottery.
- The 4th of July is
the deadliest date as most people are outside.
|
Phones attract
lightning - NEVER talk on the phone (fixed line or cell
phone) during a thunderstorm. Talking on the phone in the home
or outside is the leading cause of injuries and deaths due to
lightning. |
Consult our
lightning safety
article for ways to protect yourself during a thunderstorm. |
