MACON, Ga. — It all starts with a cumulonimbus cloud... or a tall storm cloud.
Storm clouds have an updraft, a strong upward wind that brings water higher into the atmosphere.
This water eventually freezes and turns into hail.
Hail is more dense than water....so it falls back into the base of the cloud.
And as it falls it collides with some smaller ice particles.
This scraping and rubbing gives the hail a negative charge and the smaller ice particles a positive charge.
Now the base of the cloud is filled with this negatively charged hail, while the upper portions are filled with positively charged particles.
Remember positive charge and negative charge are attracted to one another. But in the cloud, the density and collisions keep them separated.
And because the base of the clouds now have a negative charge.... It will attract positive charge from the earth's surface.
And when those positive and negative attractions meets, lightning forms.
Here is a photo by Douglas Nurnberger of a huge lightning strike over Macon.
Lightning strikes can be roughly 3 centimeters wide and up to 30,000 degrees.
So as always when thunder roars, go in-doors.
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