The summer thunder and lightning storm season is in full swing. If you’ve experienced a thunder and lightning storm, you know how awesome – and frightening – they can be. Here are some facts about Thunder and Lightning you may not know, from Conserve Energy Future:
Fact 1: Lightning has about 6 million strikes every day: According to Earth How, are about 8.6 million strikes of lightning every day. The perfect place to see lightning strikes is Lake Maracaibo in Venezuela, where there is an 80% chance of experiencing a nocturnal thunderstorm.
Fact 2: Thunder is actually caused by lightning: Once lightning strikes, it takes several seconds before we hear the thunder. However, thunder does not come after lightning, but instead, is caused by lightning. The speed of sound in air is slower than the speed of light, meaning we will see the lightning first, before hearing the thunder.
Fact 3: Lightning is hotter than the sun: At the time lightning strikes, it is hotter than the sun. lightning is an electrostatic discharge, supercharged from ionized air, and as it finds its way to earth, it releases massive bolts of electricity. The temperature of lightning can reach 30,000°C, about five times hotter than the surface of the sun.
Fact 4: Lightning strikes the same places year after year: it’s like lightning has a highway it follows, as it often strikes the same place, especially if that location is a tall, pointed and isolated object. The Empire State Building, for instance, gets struck by lightning about 23 times each year.
Fact 5: During flashes of lightning, try to stay indoors to avoid injury and death: Being outdoors when there are bolts of lightning, is extremely risky. In fact, being underneath a tree is the second-highest cause of lightning deaths. It’s best to just stay indoors and avoid metal and wire conductors.
Fact 6: Lightning can result in forest fires: Lightning releases a bolt of electricity. Also, smoke and carbon microparticles present in the upper regions of the atmosphere can initiate static. Such static can spark discharge, turning into lightning, which has resulted in massive wildfires in the coast of Brazil, Peru and Hawaii, burning acres of sugar cane. Sky Met Weather states that 10,000 forest fires in the US every year are also caused by lightning.
Fact 7: Lightning is sexist! Lightning seems to prefer to strike men over women with about 85% of its victims being men. Surprisingly, of those struck by lightning, the fatality rates are higher in women than men. Additionally, 90% of lightning strike victims survive.
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