Anvil Lightning: A positive lightning bolt which develops in the anvil, or top of the thunderstorm cloud, and travels generally straight down to strike the ground. Heat Lightning: Lightning from a thunderstorm that is.
Yet another inquiry we ran across in our research was “What are the odds of being struck by heat lightning?”.
In many cases, no thunder is heard from ” heat lightning,” again due to the large distance to the storm and to the fact that thunder is often inaudible for lightning strikes more than about 10 miles away. As for being struck by heat lightning, the odds are very low so long as it remains too far away to see the lightning path and hear thunder.
So, how far can you see heat lightning?
The actual phenomenon commonly called heat lightning is simply cloud-to-ground lightning that occurs very far away, with thunder that dissipates before it reaches the observer. At night, it is possible to see the flashes of lightning from very far distances, up to 100 miles (160 kilometres), but the sound does not carry that far.
What is heat lightning and is it dangerous?
Mike Moss: Heat lightning is just an informal term that arose to describe “regular” lightning that is too distant to see the actual lightning channel, so that what is seen is just indirect light from the strike that is reflected off clouds or scattered by air and suspended particles.
What is heat lightning and what causes it?
Heat lightning may be one of the most misused weather terms during the summer months, but it is likely not what you think it is. Many people believe heat lightning is produced by hot and humid conditions, lighting up the night sky without any rain or thunder in the immediate area. Lightning in northern Idaho.
Does lightning strike from the ground up or down?
The answer is both. Cloud-to-ground (CG) lightning comes from the sky down, but the part you see comes from the ground up. A typical cloud-to-ground flash lowers a path of negative electricity (that we cannot see) towards the ground in a series of spurts.
When lightning strikes a tree or other object, much of the energy travels outward from the strike in and along the ground surface. This is known as the ground current. Anyone outside near a lightning strike is potentially a victim of ground current. In addition, ground current can travels in garage floors with conductive materials.
, and cloud-to-ground lightning. The movement of sound in the atmosphere depends on the properties of the air, such as temperature and density. Because temperature and density change with height, the sound of thunder is refracted through the troposphere. This refraction results in spaces through which the thunder does not propagate.