HOW LIGHTNING WORKS - Weird World of Lightning

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How does lightning form? Does it strike up or down? Over the decades I’ve seen lightning do some freaky stuff. In this visually stunning video we’re going to explore and explain the weird world of lightning.

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BIRTH OF LIGHTNING in THUNDERSTORMS
Thunderstorms have the ability to separate pools of positive and negative charges in and around them, thus creating powerful electric fields. Lightning is born between two oppositely charged regions as a network of electrically conductive channels called leaders materialize and begin to tunnel a path through the poor conductive air in between. Think of leaders as a sort of jumper cable. The leaders branch out in two directions, each with opposite polarities toward both regions in an attempt to neutralize the charge separation.

CLOUD FLASHES or INTRACLOUD LIGHTNING
Most lightning flashes occur within the storm and are called cloud flashes or intracloud lightning.

GROUND FLASH or Cloud-To-Ground Lightning
When one end of the bidirectional leader network connects to the ground or object on the ground we call it a ground flash, or cloud-to-ground lightning. CG for short.

WHEN STEP LEADERS & UPWARD LEADERS MEET
In the most common CGs, a negatively charged step leader approaches the ground. The electric field between the step leader and the ground strengthens to the point that an oppositely charged positive leader (aka upward streamer) begins reaching up bridging the gap between the two. More than one upward leader may initiate and attempt to connect with the downward leader, however, the first to reach a downward propagating step leader will suddenly complete a channel path through the resisting air for the flow of powerful electrical current between the Earth and cloud. Electrons then RAPIDLY accelerate down the channel causing extreme heating and the brightest flash of the event. This is the return stroke of negative CGs. In rare photographs, you can see failed upward connecting leaders that didn’t reach, the downward leader first, and thus terminating into the air.

WHAT CAUSES THUNDER?
the air around lightning becomes So hot that it explodes as a supersonic shock wave that transitions to an acoustic wave within a few meters. This rapid expansion of air molecules creates sound waves that radiate outward about 1 mile every 5 seconds. The sound we hear is thunder.

WHY DOES LIGHTNING FLICKER?
Often after a negative CG return stroke, multiple other return strokes follow causing the main channel to flicker. This is called a multistroke CG flash.This repetitive nature is caused by recoil leaders forming on the upper end of the lightning channel in the cloud which is positive polarity.

COMMON POSITIVE FLASHES
The return stroke of typical positive CGs rarely flicker. Many occur between a positive pool higher in the thunderstorm, and the ground. Because of the greater distance the leaders have to blaze through the resisting air, the return stoke of these positive CGs is often much hotter, brighter and longer in duration. The peak charge in Positive CGs can be 10 times more powerful than a typical negative CG and thus considerably more dangerous. These are generally the most powerful CGs, reaching temperatures up to 30,000 Celsius. That’s roughly 5 times hotter than the surface of our Sun. Positive CGs only account for about 5-10% of all ground flashes worldwide, But In tornado Alley, they are an atypically common sight. I tend to see them just downstream of strong storm updrafts.

BOLT FROM THE BLUE
Sometimes a bolt of lightning can leap miles away from a storm jolting earthlings with surprise.
We call this a Bolt from The Blue. Outdated paradigms suggested these clear air channels leaping out the back of storms were positive in polarity. But the latest research using lightning mapping and high speed cameras have shown most of these startling zaps are indeed negative.
If you capture a Bolt from the Blue and it has a lot of branching, chances are it was a negative CG instead of a positive.

WHAT IS UPWARD LIGHTNING?
Sometimes storms can grow upscale into massive complexes stretching across states. These systems can have horizontally layered charge regions that serve as the conduit for lightning to travel over a 100 kilometers. They transfer HUGE amounts of charge, and cause abrupt changes in the electric field, which can trigger another flash in a sort of domino effect. Upward lightning travels UP from tall objects on the ground into the storm.This is ALSO called Ground-to-cloud lightning. Almost all upward moving flashes are triggered by a nearby lightning flash, either when leader activity or a return stroke occurs close enough to the tall object causing an abrupt change in the electric field. .

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Almost six decades on this planet, and nobody has ever explained the lightning phenomena as well as you just did.

turbolivesinmyheart
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Calling it now, Hank becomes that cool science teacher in high school that everyone adores when he's in his 60's.

headlights-go-up
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Always good to know lightning has strong positive leaders ✊

-MendicantBias
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Me before I started watching Pescos Hank: Storm cool

Me after: Sits by the window during a storm with notebook recording every type of lightning and explaining everything to my family that's tired of it

s
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Dude, I’ve just got to say : I love your soul. Courageous genius, naturalist, mad scientist, musician, composer, photographer, teacher and artist all wrapped up with the heart of an 8 year old boy.

sumhas
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I saw this and started saying "yes" over and over again.

Alcor-wfgc
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Your explanations are incredible... As said by other commenters, no one has been able to successfully explain lightning in such a clear and concise way that I've ever seen before. Awesome video!

Stellarffxi
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Hank, the more I watch your videos, the more I appreciate your heart - your love and passion for music (which is awesome by the way!), storm chasing, weather, and even critters of all kinds. Thank you making this great video that helped me understand why when I was a kid (I'm still a 56 year old kid) I was struck by lightening while watering some yearling heifers under a chicken house with a sheetmetal roof on a dairy farm. My red heeler and I never should have been there. We both we standing under a soffit watching the storm, the torrential rain, and yes, the lightening show. The thing I remember the most was watching the hair on my red heeler suddenly rise up off her body then seeing the hair on my arms rise up then BAM! All I saw was red, the blood under my eyelids. It was so bright and hot! I ended up face down in manure ten feet away from where the lightening struck a hole in the roof behind us about 3x3. The inseam on my pants was blown open all the way down to my rubber boots which I was thankful I was wearing that day or I don't think I'd be writing these words to you. And thank goodness, my red heeler Queen Bee, lived too. Blessings.

rev
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"One could kill you. And the other, will likely kill you."

I can't say I like those odds, Mr. Hank.

cursedcancersurvivor
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I have always been fascinated by lightening and thunder storms. I love the wind and rain that comes with them and the temperature changes. Nature is so amazing!

ElenaAshe
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As someone who is absolutely frightened of lightning, i found this video really interesting! The way you explain everything in great detail, yet is easy to understand is excellent! It’s made me want to learn so much more about lightning to eventually overcome my fears! Next time we have another thunderstorm here in the UK i’ll definitely be watching it! Thanks Hank 😄!!

beautbyvickixoxo
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And my mom says I’m not learning. Hank, dude, you do better teaching than my 7th grade science teacher who’s taught science for 27 years.

woomy
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Hello! I'm fourteen years old, and I've been fascinated by storms my whole life. I stumbled across your youtube channel a few months ago and just wanted to say thank you for all of your explanations and incredible footage of weather phenomena. I appreciate your effort to explain what in some ways will never be understood completely. Happy trails!

talliframe
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As a child I was so afraid of lightning. Now I love to go out and watch the sky. Thankyou Hank for your educational clips.

lindalane
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By far, out of all of the channels that portray my interests, weather being in the top 3, Hanks channel is by far my favorite to watch. It’s like watching “how its made” or “how things work”…. For weather 😁. His enthusiasm is very genuine and inspiring. Now… if I could only afford a better camera I might quit my day job.

j.d
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9:47
Q: Does lighting strikes up or down ?
A: Yes
:D

Quetzalcoatl
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Pecos Hank, bringing us peaceful images, the best guitar licks and relevant information. Better than ANY news outlet. Thank you and Stay safe out there, pardner!

Corvidae
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You are my favorite weather science/natural science guy on the internet. Your video quality is top notch, your demeanor is chill and enlightened, and your guitar playing is quite the addition to an already diverse set of talents you have. You are a modern day Renaissance Man!

waylonrhoads
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Came across your Channel and LOVE IT! Our home was struck by a large tornado two weeks ago and I have been fascinated ever since! My family is safe (we were in a closet under our staircase). Love learning how all of this stuff works. Your channel is amazing!

bradwatson
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This guy has probably earned my #1 storm chaser role, he is always entertaining and he teaches us so many things while being entertaining

qiac