Lightning

electricity · weather · nature · sky

Instant electricity. Lightning is a giant spark of electricity that travels between clouds and the ground (or between two clouds) in just a fraction of a second. It happens when the air becomes so charged with electrical energy that it has to release it all at once.

Charged-up clouds. Storm clouds build up electrical charge as water droplets and ice crystals bump into each other inside them. Eventually, the cloud becomes so electrically charged that it needs to release all that energy, and that's when lightning strikes.

Makes the charge equal. When lightning flashes between a cloud and the ground, it's like nature's way of evening things out. The lightning neutralizes the electrical difference, bringing both regions back to being electrically balanced.

Heat and light together. Lightning is incredibly hot and bright, the flash of light and the boom of thunder happen at the same time, but you see the light instantly while sound takes longer to reach your ears.

Between sky and earth. Most of the time, lightning connects a charged cloud to the ground below, but sometimes two clouds spark at each other instead, creating lightning within the sky itself.