Which way does current flow in a lightning strike?

Most CG lightning is negative, meaning that a negative charge is transferred to ground and electrons travel downward along the lightning channel (conventionally the current flows from the ground to the cloud).

How does lightning determine where strikes?

When a storm passes by and a bolt of lightning flashes, HAMMA can determine where the strike happened. It also measures the electric field produced by the strike. Its sensors can peer inside a cloud during that critical split-second before lightning develops.

Can lightning strike backwards from the ground to a cloud?

The answer is both. Cloud-to-ground (CG) lightning comes from the sky down, but the part you see comes from the ground up. When these two paths meet, a return stroke zips back up to the sky.

Where do electrons go after lightning?

Small negatively charged particles called electrons are knocked off some ice and added to other ice as they crash past each other. This separates the positive (+) and negative (-) charges of the cloud. The top of the cloud becomes positively charged while the base of the cloud becomes negatively charged.

Does lightning complete a circuit?

Learn where does lightning strike Lightning will not strike unless there certain conditions are met. Lightning is a circuit, for it to strike the circuit must be complete or the energy will just keep moving without going anywhere or doing anything.

Does current flow back to the source through Earth?

Electricity always returns to the source of the power supply (a transformer or substation). When electrical current cannot flow through a neutral conductor, due to some type of damage or defect in the circuit, more current will use a path through the earth to return to the power supply.

What happens when a lightning strike hits the ground?

When lightning strikes the ground or an object on the ground, the discharge occurs in and along the ground surface (not deep into the ground). This creates a dangerous and potentially deadly ground current near the lightning strike. Ground current is responsible for killing many farm animals on a yearly basis.

What is the electric current in a lightning bolt?

Electric Current through a Lightning Bolt. The electric current in a lightning bolt is measured in amperes (A). An ampere is defined as the constant current which, if maintained in two straight parallel conductors of infinite length, with negligible cross sections, and placed one meter apart in a vacuum, will produce between these conductors…

Can You Survive a direct strike from lightning?

Direct Strike. The heat produced when lightning moves over the skin can produce burns, but the current moving through the body is of greatest concern. While the ability to survive any lightning strike is related to immediate medical attention, the amount of current moving through the body is also a factor.

Why do lightning currents have a marked skin effect?

Lightning currents have a very fast rise time, on the order of 40 kA per microsecond. Hence, conductors of such currents exhibit marked skin effect, causing most of the currents to flow through the outer surface of the conductor.