thunderstorm

/thun"deuhr stawrm'/, n.

a transient storm of lightning and thunder, usually with rain and gusty winds, sometimes with hail or snow, produced by cumulonimbus clouds. Also called electrical storm.

[1645-55; THUNDER + STORM]

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Violent, short-lived atmospheric disturbance, almost always associated with cumulonimbus clouds (very tall, dense rain clouds) and accompanied by thunder and lightning.

Such storms usually generate strong, gusty winds and heavy rain, and occasionally hail or tornadoes. Thunderstorms have been known to occur in almost every part of the world, although they are rare in the polar regions. In the U.S. the areas of maximum thunderstorm activity are the Florida peninsula and the coast of the Gulf of Mexico (70–80 days per year).

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▪ meteorology

Introduction

  a violent, short-lived weather disturbance that is almost always associated with lightning, thunder, dense clouds, heavy rain or hail, and strong, gusty winds. Thunderstorms arise when layers of warm, moist air rise in a large, swift updraft to cooler regions of the atmosphere. There the moisture contained in the updraft condenses to form towering cumulonimbus clouds and, eventually, precipitation. Columns of cooled air then sink earthward, striking the ground with strong downdrafts and horizontal winds. At the same time, electrical charges accumulate on cloud particles (water droplets and ice). Lightning discharges occur when the accumulated electric charge becomes sufficiently large. Lightning heats the air it passes through so intensely and quickly that shock waves (shock wave) are produced; these shock waves are heard as claps and rolls of thunder. On occasion, severe thunderstorms are accompanied by swirling vortices of air that become concentrated and powerful enough to form tornadoes (tornado).

 Thunderstorms are known to occur in almost every region of the world, though they are rare in polar regions and infrequent at latitudes higher than 50° N and 50° S. The temperate and tropical regions of the world, therefore, are the most prone to thunderstorms. In the United States the areas of maximum thunderstorm activity are the Florida peninsula (more than 90 thunderstorm days per year), the Gulf Coast (70–80 days per year), and the mountains of New Mexico (50–60 days per year). Central Europe and Asia average 20 to 60 thunderstorm days per year. It has been estimated that at any one moment there are approximately 1,800 thunderstorms in progress throughout the world.

      This article covers two major aspects of thunderstorms: their meteorology (i.e., their formation, structure, and distribution) and their electrification (i.e., the generation of lightning and thunder). For separate coverage of related phenomena not covered in this article, see tornado, ball lightning, bead lightning, and red sprites and blue jets.

Thunderstorm formation and structure

Vertical atmospheric motion

      Most brief but violent disturbances in Earth's wind systems involve large areas of ascending and descending air. Thunderstorms are no exception to this pattern. In technical terms, a thunderstorm is said to develop when the atmosphere becomes “unstable to vertical motion.” Such an instability can arise whenever relatively warm, light air is overlain by cooler, heavier air. Under such conditions the cooler air tends to sink, displacing the warmer air upward. If a sufficiently large volume of air rises, an updraft (a strong current of rising air) will be produced. If the updraft is moist, the water will condense and form clouds; condensation in turn will release latent heat energy, further fueling upward air motion and increasing the instability.

      Once upward air motions are initiated in an unstable atmosphere, rising parcels of warm air accelerate as they rise through their cooler surroundings because they have a lower density and are more buoyant. This motion can set up a pattern of convection wherein heat and moisture are transported upward and cooler and drier air is transported downward. Areas of the atmosphere where vertical motion is relatively strong are called cells, and when they carry air to the upper troposphere (the lowest layer of the atmosphere), they are called deep cells. Thunderstorms develop when deep cells of moist convection become organized and merge, and then produce precipitation and ultimately lightning and thunder.

 Upward motions can be initiated in a variety of ways in the atmosphere. A common mechanism is by the heating of a land surface and the adjacent layers of air by sunlight. If surface heating is sufficient, the temperatures of the lowest layers of air will rise faster than those of layers aloft, and the air will become unstable. The ability of the ground to heat up quickly is why most thunderstorms form over land rather than oceans (see the map—>). Instability can also occur when layers of cool air are warmed from below after they move over a warm ocean surface or over layers of warm air. Mountains, too, can trigger upward atmospheric motion by acting as topographic barriers that force winds to rise. Mountains (mountain) also act as high-level sources of heat and instability when their surfaces are heated by the Sun.

 The huge clouds (cloud) associated with thunderstorms typically start as isolated cumulus clouds (clouds formed by convection, as described above) that develop vertically into domes and towers. If there is enough instability and moisture and the background winds are favourable, the heat released by condensation will further enhance the buoyancy of the rising air mass. The cumulus clouds will grow and merge with other cells to form a cumulus congestus cloud extending even higher into the atmosphere (6,000 metres [20,000 feet] or more above the surface). Ultimately, a cumulonimbus cloud will form, with its characteristic anvil-shaped top, billowing sides, and dark base (see the figure—>). Cumulonimbus clouds typically produce large amounts of precipitation.

Types of thunderstorms

      At one time, thunderstorms were classified according to where they occurred—for example, as local, frontal, or orographic (mountain-initiated) thunderstorms. Today it is more common to classify storms according to the characteristics of the storms themselves, and such characteristics depend largely on the meteorological environment in which the storms develop. The United States National Weather Service has defined a severe thunderstorm as any storm that produces a tornado, winds greater than 26 metres per second (94 km [58 miles] per hour), or hail with a diameter greater than 1.9 cm (0.75 inch).

Isolated thunderstorms

      Isolated thunderstorms tend to occur where there are light winds that do not change dramatically with height and where there is abundant moisture at low and middle levels of the atmosphere—that is, from near the surface of the ground up to around 10,000 metres (33,000 feet) in altitude. These storms are sometimes called air-mass or local thunderstorms. They are mostly vertical in structure, are relatively short-lived, and usually do not produce violent weather at the ground. Aircraft and radar measurements show that such storms are composed of one or more convective cells, each of which goes through a well-defined life cycle. Early in the development of a cell, the air motions are mostly upward, not as a steady, uniform stream but as one that is composed of a series of rising eddies. Cloud and precipitation particles form and grow as the cell grows. When the accumulated load of water and ice becomes excessive, a downdraft starts. The downward motion is enhanced when the cloud particles evaporate and cool the air—almost the reverse of the processes in an updraft. At maturity, the cell contains both updrafts and downdrafts (updraft and downdraft) in close proximity. In its later stages, the downdraft spreads throughout the cell and diminishes in intensity as precipitation falls from the cloud. Isolated thunderstorms contain one or more convective cells in different stages of evolution. Frequently, the downdrafts and associated outflows from a storm trigger new convective cells nearby, resulting in the formation of a multiple-cell thunderstorm.

      Solar heating is an important factor in triggering local, isolated thunderstorms. Most such storms occur in the late afternoon and early evening, when surface temperatures are highest.

Multiple-cell thunderstorms and mesoscale convective systems

      Violent weather at the ground is usually produced by organized multiple-cell storms, squall lines, or a supercell. All of these tend to be associated with a mesoscale disturbance (a weather system of intermediate size, that is, 10 to 1,000 km [6 to 600 miles] in horizontal extent). Multiple-cell storms have several updrafts and downdrafts (updraft and downdraft) in close proximity to one another. They occur in clusters of cells in various stages of development moving together as a group. Within the cluster one cell dominates for a time before weakening, and then another cell repeats the cycle. In squall lines, thunderstorms form in an organized line and create a single, continuous gust front (the leading edge of a storm's outflow from its downdraft). Supercell storms have one intense updraft and downdraft; they are discussed in more detail below.

      Sometimes the development of a mesoscale weather disturbance causes thunderstorms to develop over a region hundreds of kilometres in diameter. Examples of such disturbances include frontal wave cyclones (cyclone) (low-pressure systems that develop from a wave on a front separating warm and cool air masses) and low-pressure troughs at upper levels of the atmosphere. The resulting pattern of storms is called a mesoscale convective system (MCS). Severe multiple-cell thunderstorms and supercell storms are frequently associated with MCSs. Precipitation produced by these systems typically includes rainfall from convective clouds and from stratiform clouds (cloud layers with a large horizontal extent). Stratiform precipitation is primarily due to the remnants of older cells with a relatively low vertical velocity—that is, with limited convection occurring.

      Thunderstorms can be triggered by a cold front that moves into moist, unstable air. Sometimes squall lines develop in the warm air mass tens to hundreds of kilometres ahead of a cold front. The tendency of prefrontal storms to be more or less aligned parallel to the front indicates that they are initiated by atmospheric disturbances caused by the front.

      In the central United States, severe thunderstorms commonly occur in the springtime, when cool westerly winds at middle levels (3,000 to 10,000 metres [10,000 to 33,000 feet] in altitude) move over warm and moist surface air flowing northward from the Gulf of Mexico. The resulting broad region of instability produces MCSs that persist for many hours or even days.

      In the tropics, the northeast trade winds (trade wind) meet the southeast trades near the Equator, and the resulting intertropical convergence zone (ITCZ) is characterized by air that is both moist and unstable. Thunderstorms and MCSs appear in great abundance in the ITCZ; they play an important role in the transport of heat to upper levels of the atmosphere and to higher latitudes.

Supercell storms

  When environmental winds are favourable, the updraft and downdraft of a storm become organized and twist around and reinforce each other. The result is a long-lived supercell storm. These storms are the most intense type of thunderstorm. In the central United States, supercells typically have a broad, intense updraft that enters from the southeast and brings moist surface air into the storm. The updraft rises, rotates counterclockwise, and exits to the east, forming an anvil. Updraft speeds in supercell storms can exceed 40 metres (130 feet) per second and are capable of suspending hailstones (hail) as large as grapefruit. Supercells can last two to six hours. They are the most likely storm to produce spectacular wind and hail damage as well as powerful tornadoes (tornado).

Physical characteristics of thunderstorms

      Aircraft and radar measurements show that a single thunderstorm cell extends to an altitude of 8,000 to 10,000 metres (26,000 to 33,000 feet) and lasts about 30 minutes. An isolated storm usually contains several cells in different stages of evolution and lasts about an hour. A large storm can be many tens of kilometres in diameter with a top that extends to altitudes above 18 km (10 miles), and its duration can be many hours.

Updrafts (updraft and downdraft) and downdrafts

      The updrafts and downdrafts (updraft and downdraft) in isolated thunderstorms are typically between about 0.5 and 2.5 km (0.3 and 1.6 miles) in diameter at altitudes of 3 to 8 km (1.9 to 5 miles). The updraft diameter may occasionally exceed 4 km (2.5 miles). Closer to the ground, drafts tend to have a larger diameter and lower speeds than do drafts higher in the cloud. Updraft speeds typically peak in the range of 5 to 10 metres (16 to 33 feet) per second, and speeds exceeding 20 metres (66 feet) per second are common in the upper parts of large storms. Airplanes flying through large storms at altitudes of about 10,000 metres (33,000 feet) have measured updrafts exceeding 30 metres (98 feet) per second. The strongest updrafts occur in organized storms that are many tens of kilometres in diameter, and lines or zones of such storms can extend for hundreds of kilometres.

Downbursts

 Sometimes thunderstorms will produce intense downdrafts that create damaging winds on the ground. These downdrafts are referred to as macrobursts or microbursts (microburst), depending on their size. A macroburst is more than 4 km (2.5 miles) in diameter and can produce winds as high as 60 metres per second, or 215 km per hour (200 feet per second, or 135 miles per hour). A microburst is smaller in dimension but produces winds as high as 75 metres per second, or 270 km per hour (250 feet per second, or 170 miles per hour) on the ground, as shown in the figure—>. When the parent storm forms in a wet, humid environment, the microburst will be accompanied by intense rainfall at the ground. If the storm forms in a dry environment, however, the precipitation may evaporate before it reaches the ground (such precipitation is referred to as virga), and the microburst will be dry.

      Downbursts are a serious hazard to aircraft, especially during takeoffs and landings, because they produce large and abrupt changes in the wind speed and direction near the ground.

Vertical extent

      In general, an active cloud will rise until it loses its buoyancy. A loss of buoyancy is caused by precipitation loading when the water content of the cloud becomes heavy enough, or by the entrainment of cool, dry air, or by a combination of these processes. Growth can also be stopped by a capping inversion, that is, a region of the atmosphere where the air temperature decreases slowly, is constant, or increases with height.

      Thunderstorms typically reach altitudes above 10,000 metres (33,000 feet) and sometimes more than 20,000 metres (66,000 feet). When the instability is high, the atmosphere moist, and winds favourable, thunderstorms can extend to the tropopause, that is, the boundary between the troposphere and the stratosphere. The tropopause is characterized by air temperatures that are nearly constant or increasing with height, and it is a region of great stability. Occasionally the momentum of an updraft carries it into the stratosphere, but after a short distance the air in the top of the updraft becomes cooler and heavier than the surrounding air, and the overshoot ceases. The height of the tropopause varies with both latitude and season. It ranges from about 10,000 to 15,000 metres (33,000 to 50,000 feet) and is higher near the Equator.

      When a cumulonimbus cloud reaches a capping inversion or the tropopause, it spreads outward and forms the anvil cloud so characteristic of most thunderstorms. The winds at anvil altitudes typically carry cloud material downwind, and sometimes there are weak cells of convection embedded in the anvil.

Turbulence (atmospheric turbulence)

      An airplane flying through a thunderstorm is commonly buffeted upward and downward and from side to side by turbulent drafts in a storm. atmospheric turbulence causes discomfort for the crew and passengers and also subjects the aircraft to undesirable stresses.

      Turbulence can be quantified in various ways, but frequently a g unit, equal to the acceleration of gravity (9.8 metres per second squared, or 32.2 feet per second squared), is used. A gust of one g will cause severe aircraft turbulence. In the upper part of violent thunderstorms, vertical accelerations of about three g have been reported.

Movement of thunderstorms

      The motion of a thunderstorm across the land is determined primarily by the interactions of its updrafts and downdrafts with steering winds in the middle layers of the atmosphere in which the storm develops. The speed of isolated storms is typically about 20 km (12 miles) per hour, but some storms move much faster. In extreme circumstances, a supercell storm may move 65 to 80 km (about 40 to 50 miles) per hour. Most storms continually evolve and have new cells developing while old ones dissipate. When winds are light, an individual cell may move very little, less than two kilometres, during its lifetime; however, in a larger storm, new cells triggered by the outflow from downdrafts can give the appearance of rapid motion. In large, multicell storms, the new cells tend to form to the right of the steering winds in the Northern Hemisphere and to the left in the Southern Hemisphere.

energy

      The energy that drives thunderstorms comes primarily from the latent heat that is released when water vapour condenses to form cloud drops. For every gram of water that is condensed, about 600 calories of heat are released to the atmosphere. When water drops freeze in the upper parts of the cloud, another 80 calories per gram are released. The release of latent heat energy in an updraft is converted, at least in part, to the kinetic energy of the air motions. A rough estimate of the total energy in a thunderstorm can be made from the total quantity of water that is precipitated by the cloud. In a typical case, this energy is about 10⁷ kilowatt-hours, roughly equivalent of a 20-kiloton nuclear explosion (though it is released over a broader area and in a longer span of time). A large, multicell storm can easily be 10 to 100 times more energetic.

Weather under thunderstorms

Downdrafts and gust fronts

 Thunderstorm downdrafts originate at altitudes where the air temperature is cooler than at ground level, and they are kept cool even as they sink to warmer levels by the evaporation of water and melting of ice particles. Not only is the sinking air more dense than its surroundings, but it carries a horizontal momentum that is different from the surrounding air. If the descending air originated at a height of 10,000 metres (33,000 feet), for example, it might reach the ground with a horizontal velocity much higher than the wind at the ground. When such air hits the ground, it usually moves outward ahead of the storm at a higher speed than the storm itself, as shown in the figure—>. This is why an observer on the ground watching a thunderstorm approach can often feel a gust of cool air before the storm passes overhead. The outspreading downdraft air forms a pool some 500 to 2,000 metres (about 1,600 to 6,500 feet) deep, and often there is a distinct boundary between the cool air and the warm, humid air in which the storm developed. The passage of such a gust front is easily recognized as the wind speed increases and the air temperature suddenly drops. Over a five-minute period, a cooling of more than 5 °C (9 °F) is not unusual, and cooling twice as great is not unknown.

Rainfall (precipitation)

      In extreme circumstances, the gust front produced by a downburst may reach 50 metres (about 160 feet) per second or more and do extensive damage to property and vegetation. Severe winds occur most often when organized lines of thunderstorms develop in an environment where the middle-level winds are very strong. Under such conditions, people might think the winds were caused by a tornado. If a funnel cloud is not observed, the character of the wind damage can indicate the source. Tornadoes blow debris in a tight circular pattern, whereas the air from a thunderstorm outflow pushes it mostly in one direction.

      By the time the cool air arrives, rain usually is reaching the surface. Sometimes all the raindrops evaporate while falling, and the result is a dry thunderstorm. At the other extreme, severe multiple-cell and supercell storms can produce torrential rain and hail and cause flash floods.

      In small thunderstorms, peak five-minute rainfall rates can exceed 120 mm (4.7 inches) per hour, but most rainfalls are about one-tenth this amount. The average thunderstorm produces about 2,000 metric tons (220,000 short tons) of rain, but large storms can produce 10 times more rainfall. Large, organized storms that are associated with mesoscale convective systems can generate 10¹⁰ to 10¹² kg of rainfall.

Thunderstorm electrification (electric charge)

 Within a single thunderstorm, there are updrafts and downdrafts and a variety of cloud particles and precipitation. Measurements show that thunderclouds in different geographic locations tend to produce an excess negative charge (electric charge) at altitudes where the ambient air temperature is between about −5 and −15 °C (23 to 5 °F). Positive charge accumulates at both higher and lower altitudes. The result, as shown in the figure—>, is a division of charge across space that creates a high electric field and the possibility of significant electrical activity.

      Many mechanisms have been proposed to explain the overall electrical structure of a thunderstorm, and cloud electrification is an active area of research. A leading hypothesis is that if the larger and heavier cloud particles charge preferentially with a negative polarity, and the smaller and lighter particles acquire a positive polarity, then the separation between positive and negative regions occurs simply because the larger particles fall faster than the lighter cloud constituents. Such a mechanism is generally consistent with laboratory studies that show electrical charging when soft hail, or graupel particles (porous amalgamations of frozen water droplets), collide with ice crystals in the presence of supercooled water droplets. The amount and polarity of the graupel charges depend on the ambient air temperature and on the liquid water content of the cloud, as well as on the ice crystal size, the velocity of the collision, and other factors. Other mechanisms of electrification are also possible.

lightning occurrence

 When the accumulated electric charges (electric charge) in a thunderstorm become sufficiently large, lightning discharges take place between opposite charge regions, between charged regions and the ground, or from a charged region to the neutral atmosphere. In a typical thunderstorm, roughly two-thirds of all discharges occur within the cloud, from cloud to cloud, or from cloud to air. The rest are between the cloud and ground.

 In recent years it has become clear that lightning can be artificially initiated, or triggered, in clouds that would not normally produce natural lightning discharges. Lightning can be triggered by a mountain or a tall structure when a thunderstorm is overhead and there is a high electric field in the vicinity or when an aircraft or large rocket flies into a high-field environment.

Global lightning distribution

 Data from Earth-orbiting satellites show that, on average, about 80 percent of lightning flashes occur over land and 20 percent over the oceans. The frequency of lightning over land tends to peak in the mid-afternoon between 3:00 and 6:00 PM local time. Seasonal trends in the distribution of lightning (as shown in the video—>) are the result of temperature changes at the Earth's surface.

      Tropical air masses commonly produce thunderstorms and lightning. Thunderstorm development requires moist, unstable air masses typical of those in tropical areas. In this region the Sun's rays are nearly vertical, allowing more energy to reach and warm the lowest layers of the atmosphere. Abundant moisture is added when the warm air moves over the ocean and becomes humidified by evaporation from the underlying water surface. Thunderstorm development is then initiated by upward movement of air, due to, for example, changes in air pressure or the topography of the land. The average number of days with audible thunder exceeds 100 per year over land areas within 10 degrees latitude north and south of the Equator. In some regions of equatorial Africa and South America there are more than 180 thunder days in an average year.

      At higher latitudes, thunderstorm frequency depends on the character of the topography and how often moist, tropical air invades the region, which happens most often in the spring and summer. Maximum thunderstorm activity in the Northern and Southern Hemispheres is offset by approximately six months, with most Northern Hemisphere thunderstorms occurring between May and September and in the Southern Hemisphere between November and March.

      Thunderstorms are a common feature of the summer monsoons (monsoon) in many parts of the world, especially southern Asia. As solar radiation warms the Indian subcontinent, an ocean-to-land air current is established and moist, unstable air from the Indian Ocean is carried inland. When this air is forced to rise by the steep slopes of the Himalayas, intense thunderstorms and rain showers are produced in great abundance.

      In regions poleward of about 60 degrees latitude thunderstorms are rare to nonexistent. In these regions the air near the surface is cold and the atmosphere is generally stable. There are also few thunderstorms in regions that are dominated by semipermanent high-pressure centres, such as southern California. In these regions air from higher altitudes is descending and warming, which lowers the relative humidity and causes stable stratification of the lower atmosphere. As a result, thunderstorm development is inhibited.

Lightning distribution in the United States

      Every year, most of the United States experiences at least two cloud-to-ground strikes per square kilometre (about five per square mile). Most of the interior of the country east of the Rocky Mountains has four or more strikes per square kilometre (about 10 discharges per square mile). Summer thunderstorms are frequent in northern Mexico and the states of Arizona, New Mexico, and Colorado when warm, humid air is forced to rise by mountainous terrain.

      Maximum flash densities are found along the Gulf Coast and Florida peninsula, where over a year's time, values exceeding 10 strikes per square kilometre (25 strikes per square mile) have been measured. More than 20 million cloud-to-ground flashes strike the United States annually, and lightning is clearly among the country's most severe weather hazards.

Cloud-to-ground lightning

Initial stroke

 A typical flash of cloud-to-ground lightning is initiated by electrical breakdown between the small positive charge region near the base of the cloud and the negative charge region in the middle of the cloud. The preliminary breakdown creates channels of air that have undergone partial ionization—the conversion of neutral atoms and molecules to electrically charged ones.

      On timescales measured in fractions of a second, high-speed cameras can record luminous events in the flash. Initially, a faint luminous process descends in a downward-branching pattern in regular distinct steps, typically 30 metres (100 feet) in length, though they can range from 10 to 100 metres (33 to 330 feet). The time interval between steps ranges from 10 to 50 microseconds (millionths of a second). Carrying currents on the order of hundreds to thousands of amperes (ampere), the stepped leader propagates toward the ground at an average velocity of 1.5 × 10⁵ metres per second, or about one two-thousandth the speed of light. It is called a stepped leader because of its downward-moving “stepped” pulses of luminosity. Diameter estimates for the stepped leader range from a few centimetres to a few metres. The current-carrying core has a diameter on the order of 1 or 2 cm (0.4 or 0.8 inch), and photographic measurements indicate that a corona sheath of electric charge with a diameter of 1 to 10 metres (3 to 33 feet) surrounds the core.

Return stroke

      As the stepped leader nears the ground, approximately five coulombs (coulomb) of charge have been deposited along the channel, inducing an opposite charge on the ground and increasing the electric field between the leader and the point to be struck. An upward discharge starts at the ground, church steeple, house, or other object, and rises to meet the stepped leader about 15 to 50 metres (50 to 160 feet) above the surface. At this moment of junction the cloud is short-circuited to the ground and a highly luminous return stroke of high current occurs. It is this return stroke, rather than the stepped leader, that is perceived as lightning because it is so much brighter and follows so quickly after the stepped leader. Portions of the stepped leader that have not reached the ground become the branches of the return stroke, and charge on the branches flows into the main channel. The five coulombs of charge typically deposited along the stepped leader flow to ground in a few hundred microseconds and produce peak currents that are usually on the order of 30,000 amperes but may range from a few thousand to over 200,000 amperes. Peak temperatures in the channel are on the order of 30,000 °C (50,000 °F), about five times hotter than the surface of the Sun. Because the junction process occurs near the ground, the time to peak current measured at the ground is typically only a few microseconds. As the leader charge avalanches toward the ground, the return stroke luminosity propagates toward the cloud base at an average speed of 5 × 10⁷ to 2 × 10⁸ metres per second, or approximately one-third the speed of light, and the high-current-carrying core expands to a diameter of a few centimetres. Laboratory experiments suggest that when pressure equilibrium is attained between the return stroke and the surrounding air, the channel approximates a high-current arc (electric arc) characterized by a current density of 1,000 amperes per square centimetre.

Subsequent return strokes

      In the rapid passage from ground to cloud, the luminous return stroke is observed to pause at points where large branches join the main channel, and the channel is observed to brighten as charge from the branch flows into the channel. The stroke then continues its upward propagation, reaching the level of the atmosphere where the temperature is 0 °C (typically at an altitude of five km [three miles] above sea level) in approximately 100 microseconds; the downward-propagating stepped leader traverses the same distance in about 30 milliseconds (thousandths of a second). There is then a pause for tens of milliseconds, and the channel cools to a few thousand degrees Celsius. If a second stroke occurs, it begins with the appearance of a dart of light, perhaps 30 to 50 metres (100 to 160 feet) in length, propagating down the channel of the previous return stroke. The dart leader moves downward at a speed of 2 × 10⁶ metres per second (about one one-hundredth the speed of light) and carries a current of the order of 1,000 amperes toward the ground. Once again, when the leader effectively short-circuits a charge centre in the cloud to the ground, another return stroke occurs. After the first stroke, the dart leader may follow the lightning channel only partway before taking a new path to the ground. This gives rise to the common forked appearance of lightning as it strikes the ground.

      This sequence of dart leader-return stroke typically occurs three to four times, although a flash to the ground that had 26 strokes and lasted two seconds has been reported. When a flash does have more than one stroke, the subsequent return strokes draw charge from different regions of the parent thunderstorm. Multiple strokes of lightning appear to flicker because the human eye is just capable of resolving the time interval between them.

Dissipation of energy

      During the return-stroke stage, approximately 10⁵ joules (joule) of energy per metre are dissipated within the lightning channel. This energy is divided among the dissociation, ionization, excitation, and kinetic energy of the particles, the energy of expansion of the channel, and radiation (electromagnetic radiation). Spectroscopic (spectroscopy) measurements reveal that the air molecules, principally those of nitrogen, oxygen, and water, are split into their respective atoms and that on the average one electron is removed from each atom. The conversion from neutral air molecules to a completely ionized plasma occurs in a few microseconds.

thunder

      When the stroke plasma is created, its temperature is at least 30,000 °C (50,000 °F), and the pressure is greater than 1,000 kilopascals (pascal) (10 atmospheres (standard atmosphere)). The channel pressure greatly exceeds the ambient (surrounding) pressure, and the return-stroke channel expands at a supersonic rate. The resultant shock wave decays rapidly with distance and is eventually heard as thunder once it slows to the speed of sound. Because it is estimated that only 1 percent of the input energy is stored in the particles and less than 1 percent is emitted as radiation in the visible (electromagnetic radiation) and infrared (electromagnetic radiation) region (4,000 to 11,000 angstroms (angstrom) [Å], where Å = 10⁻¹⁰ metre), it is probable that most of the energy dissipated goes into the energy of channel expansion, a process requiring no more than 10 to 20 microseconds.

 Since light travels at about 300,000 km (186,000 miles) per second and the speed of sound is only about 0.33 km (0.2 mile) per second, the light from a discharge will always be seen before the sound arrives at an observer, as shown in the figure—>. The time delay between the bright flash of light and the arrival of the associated thunder can often be used to estimate the distance to a discharge. Every three seconds correspond to one kilometre, and every five seconds correspond to one mile.

      The total thunder waveform comes from the entire lightning channel and includes the effects of channel branching and tortuosity, sound propagation in the atmosphere, and acoustic reflections from the local topography. The result is a series of sounds that are variously described as peaks, claps, rolls, and rumbles. At distances of a few hundred metres, thunder begins with a sudden clap followed by a long rumble; at larger distances, it begins with a rumble.

Triggered lightning

 A small percentage of discharges between the cloud and ground are actually initiated at the ground and propagate upward to a charged region in the cloud. These discharges often are initiated (or triggered) by tall structures or by towers on hilltops (see the figure—>). The upward branching of such discharges makes them visually distinguishable from their “right-side-up” counterparts, giving the impression of a cloud-to-ground lightning flash that is upside down.

Cloud-to-cloud and intracloud lightning

      True cloud-to-cloud lightning is rare because most lightning flashes occur within a cloud. The first lightning flash in a thunderstorm is typically an intracloud discharge. When an intracloud discharge occurs, the cloud becomes luminous for approximately 0.2 to 0.5 second. The discharge is initiated by a leader that propagates between regions of opposite charge (or from a charged region to the neutral atmosphere). Luminosity is more or less continuous and has several pulses of higher luminosity of one-millisecond duration superimposed upon it. This situation suggests minor return strokes as the leader contacts pockets of opposite charge, but the similarity ends there. The total amount of the charge transfer is generally similar to the amount involved in a ground discharge: 10 coulombs (coulomb), with a range from 0.3 to 100 coulombs. The mean velocity of propagation of intracloud lightning ranges from 10⁴ to 10⁷ metres per second. Electric currents (electric current) associated with the luminous brightening are probably in the range of 1,000 to 4,000 amperes (ampere). Strikes to aircraft exhibit peak currents of only a few thousand amperes, about an order of magnitude less than currents in ground flashes—though sometimes the peak currents are large. Rise times to peak currents in cloud flashes are generally slower than those in return strokes. The amount of energy dissipated by intracloud flashes is unknown.

Lightning damage

      Most lightning strikes cause damage through the large current flowing in the return stroke or through the heat that is generated by this and the continuing current. The precise mechanisms whereby lightning currents cause damage are not completely understood, however. If lightning strikes a person, the stroke current can damage the central nervous system, heart, lungs, and other vital organs (see electrical shock).

      When a building or power line is struck by lightning or is exposed to the intense electromagnetic fields from a nearby flash, the currents (electric current) and voltages that appear on the structure are determined both by the currents and fields in the discharge and by the electrical response of the object and its grounding (ground) system. For instance, if a lightning surge enters an unprotected residence by way of an electric power line, the voltages may be large enough to cause sparks in the house wiring or appliances. When such flashovers occur, they may short-circuit the alternating current power system, and the resulting power arc (electric arc) may start a fire. In such instances, the lightning does not start the fire directly, but it does cause a power fault (short circuit), and then the power currents do the damage. In the case of metals, large currents heat the surface at the air-arc interface and the interior by electron collisions with the metal lattice. If this heat is also great enough, the metal will melt or evaporate.

      At least three properties of the return-stroke current can cause damage; these are the peak current, the maximum rate of change of the initial current, and the total amount of charge transferred. For objects that have a resistive impedance (electrical impedance), such as a ground rod or a long power line, the peak voltage during a strike is proportional to the peak current produced of the lightning stroke and the resistivity of the struck object. For example, if a 100,000 ampere peak current flows into a 10- ohm grounding system, 1 million volts will be produced. A common hazard associated with the large voltages produced by lightning strikes is the re-direction of some of the energy (that is, a flashover) from the original target to an adjacent object. Such secondary discharges, or side-flashes, often cause damage comparable to that of a direct strike, and they are one of the main hazards of standing under or near an isolated tree (or any other tall object) during a thunderstorm. Such large voltages frequently cause secondary discharges or side-flashes to radiate outward from the object that is struck to another object nearby. One form of a side-flash can even occur in the ground near the point of lightning attachment.

      For objects that have an inductive electrical impedance, such as the wires in a home electrical system, the peak voltage will be proportional to the maximum rate of change of the lightning current and the inductance of the object. For example, one metre of straight copper wire has a self-inductance on the order of one microhenry. The peak rate of change in the lightning current in a return stroke is on the order of 100,000 amperes per microsecond; therefore, about 100,000 volts will appear across this length of conductor for the duration of the change, typically 100 nanoseconds (billionths of a second).

      The heating and subsequent burn-through of metal sheets, as on a metal roof or tank, are to a first approximation proportional to the total charge injected into the metal at the air-arc interface. Generally, large charge transfers are produced by long-duration continuing currents that are in the range of 100 to 1,000 amperes, rather than by the peak currents, which have a relatively short duration. The heat produced by long continuing currents is frequently the cause of forest fires. A typical cloud-to-ground flash transfers 20 to 30 coulombs (coulomb) of charge to the ground, and extreme flashes transfer hundreds and occasionally thousands of coulombs.

Lightning protection

      The best personal protection against lightning is to be alert to the presence of a hazard and then to take common-sense precautions, such as staying inside a house or building or inside an automobile, where one is surrounded by (but not in contact with) metal. People are advised to stay away from outside doors and windows and not to be in contact with any electrical appliances, such as a telephone, or anything connected to the plumbing system. If caught outdoors, people are advised to avoid isolated trees or other objects that are preferred targets and to keep low so as to minimize both height and contact with the ground (that is, crouch but do not lie down). Swimming pools are not safe during a lightning storm because water is a good conductor of electricity, and hence being in the pool effectively greatly multiplies the area of one's “ground” contact.

      The frequency with which lightning will directly strike a building in a particular region can be estimated from the building's size and the average number of strikes that occur in the region. If a building is struck whenever a stepped leader comes within 10 metres (33 feet) of the exterior of the building, then a building that is 12 metres (39 feet) wide and 16 metres (52 feet) long (an area of 192 square metres, or about 2,000 square feet) will have an effective strike zone of 32 metres by 36 metres (an area of 1,152 square metres, or 12,400 square feet). In a region where an average of three cloud-to-ground lightning strikes occur per square kilometre annually, such a building will experience an average of 0.0035 direct strike per year, or one strike about every 290 years (1,152 square metres × 3 flashes per square kilometre × 10⁻⁶ metres per square kilometre). In a region where there is an annual average of five strikes per square kilometre, the same building will experience an average of 0.0058 direct strike per year, or one strike about every 174 years. These calculations indicate that, for the second example, an average of one of every 174 buildings of similar size will be directly struck by lightning in that region each year.

  Structures may be protected from lightning by either channeling the current along the outside of the building and into the ground or by shielding the building against damage from transient currents and voltages caused by a strike. Many buildings constrain the path of lightning currents and voltages through use of lightning rods (lightning rod), or air terminals, and conductors that route the current down into a grounding system, as shown in the figure—>. When a lightning leader comes near the building, the lightning rod initiates a discharge that travels upward and connects with it, thus controlling the point of attachment of lightning to the building. A lightning rod functions only when a lightning strike in the immediate vicinity is already immanent and so does not attract significantly more lighting to the building. The down conductors and grounding system function to guide the current into the ground while minimizing damage to the structure. To minimize side-flashes, the grounding resistance should be kept as low as possible, and the geometry should be arranged so as to minimize surface breakdown. Overhead wires and grounded vertical cones may also be used to provide a cone-shaped area of lightning protection, as shown in the figure—>. Such systems are most efficient when their height is 30 metres (98 feet) or less.

      Protection of the contents of a structure can be enhanced by using lightning arresters to reduce any transient currents and voltages that might be caused by the discharge and that might propagate into the structure as traveling waves on any electric power or telephone wires exposed to the outside environment. The most effective protection for complex structures is provided by topological shielding. This form of protection reduces amounts of voltage and power at each level of a system of successive nested shields. The partial metallic shields are isolated, and the inside surface of each is grounded to the outside surface of the next. Power surges along wires coming into the structure are deflected by arrestors, or transient protectors, to the outside surface of each shield as they travel through the series, and are thus incrementally attenuated.

E. Philip Krider

Additional Reading

Thunderstorms

A collection of introductory articles about convection and the structure of thunderstorms, hailstorms, and tornadoes, including the damage they produce, is provided by Edwin Kessler (ed.), Thunderstorms—A Social, Scientific, and Technological Documentary, 3 vol. (1981–85).An introductory-level set of case studies of severe wind damage and aircraft accidents is presented by T. Theodore Fujita, The Downburst, Microburst and Macroburst (1985).At an intermediate level, a classic but still timely study of the properties of thunderstorms in Florida and Ohio is given by Horace R. Byers and Roscoe R. Braham, Jr., The Thunderstorm: Report of the Thunderstorm Project (1949). At an advanced level, Robert A. Houze, Jr., Cloud Dynamics (1993), presents a treatment of the dynamics of convective clouds, thunderstorms, and mesoscale convective systems. A comprehensive treatment of the physics and dynamics of cumulus clouds and thunderstorms is given by F.H. Ludlum, Clouds and Storms: The Behavior and Effect of Water in the Atmosphere (1980).

Lightning and lightning protection

A general introduction to thunderstorm electrification and lightning phenomena is provided by the National Research Council, The Earth's Electrical Environment (1986).A general introduction to lightning and lightning protection is provided by the following works: R.H. Golde, Lightning Protection (1973, reprinted 1975); L.E. Salanave, Lightning and Its Spectrum: An Atlas of Photographs (1980); B.F.J. Schonland, The Flight of Thunderbolts, 2nd ed. (1964); Martin A. Uman, Understanding Lightning (1971, reprinted 1986 with the title All About Lightning); and P.E. Viemeister, The Lightning Book (1961, reprinted 1972).The following works treat lightning and lightning protection at a more advanced level: Donald R. MacGorman and W. David Rust, The Electrical Nature of Storms (1998); R.H. Golde (ed.), Lightning, 2 vol. (1977); B.F.J. Schonland, “The Lightning Discharge,” in S. Flugge (ed.), Encyclopedia of Physics, Vol. XXII (1956), pp. 576–628; Martin A. Uman, Lightning (1969, reprinted with a supplement 1984) and The Lightning Discharge (1987); and Hans Volland (ed.), Handbook of Atmospheric Electrodynamics, 2 vol. (1995).E. Philip Krider

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