Lightning can be the result of hot ground heating the air above it. The warm air that rises causes the moisture in the air to cool, resulting in cloud formation. With the continued rise of warm air, the top-most vapors turn into ice and the ice particles then collide with one another, resulting in an electrical charge.
Soon after, the positively-charged particles accumulate at the top of the cloud while the heavier negatively-charged particles gather at the bottom of it. As the charges grow, they produce a spark, which is what we see in the form of lightning that resembles an electrical flash.
While lightning mostly occurs within the clouds, the positive charges could be drawn towards the negative charge at the bottom of the clouds and this is when lightning strikes the ground.
These lightning strikes often affect things/places that are poking out of the ground such as tall towers, buildings, trees, and even people.
Severe thunderstorms and lightning strikes together are a danger. While we are often aware of any foreseeable events, one thing that we could be missing out on is the idea that lightning strikes more in some areas than others.
But is this really true?
A group of scientists at the University of Reading, United Kingdom believe that lighting hits earth because of the pull of the Sun’s magnetic field on the Earth’s magnetic field. These scientists also revealed that during the 5 years of 2001-2006 there was a 50% increase in lightning strikes across the UK.
There is an old saying that goes “lightning never strikes the same place twice”. However, the reality is contrary to this. Lightning strikes can occur twice or more times in the same place. However, it is extremely difficult to know about the chances of such incidents in a particular region. Experts say there are some areas that are more likely to get hit by lightning than others.
Mostly, it is the geographic conditions that add to the odds of lightning strikes. This is the reason behind the world having places like ‘Darjeeling’, which means ‘place of lightning’.
Scientists all over the world are trying to figure out the real phenomenon behind lightning strikes and the likelihood of where or who the strikes affect. They have tried to identify common factors between all such incidents in order to see which areas are more prone to being hit. However, they are unfortunately still struggling to prove this.
Nonetheless, there is no question that lightning takes place about 100 times every single day and the world stays unharmed against most of these. However, this does not mean we can ignore the findings of a 2003 study that says that lightning strikes injure 240,000 people and put 24,000 to death each year. In 2012, 28 people died after being hit by lightning in the United States alone. This means that out of 700,000 people, 1 person is likely to be affected by lightning strikes.
The least you can do to protect your family from being affected by lightning strikes is hire a professional to prep your home for potential thunderstorms. Connect with us today!