Lightning is a sudden, violent fl ash of electricity between
a cloud and the ground, or from cloud to cloud. A lightning fl ash, or bolt,
can be several miles long. It is so hot, with an average temperature of 34,000°
Centigrade, that the air around it suddenly expands with a loud blast. This is
the thunder we hear.
Lightning occurs in hot, wet storms. Moist air is driven up
to a great height. It forms a type of cloud called cumulonimbus. When the cloud
rises high enough, the moisture freezes and ice crystals and snowfl akes are
formed.
These begin to fall, turning to rain on the way down. This
rain meets more moist air rising, and it is the friction between them which
produces static electricity. When a cloud is fully charged with this electricity, it
discharges it as a lightning fl ash.
Taken from Peter
Haddock Ltd., Ref.083
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