Positive and Negative Lightning
You have just learned about ‘negative lightning’. Negative lightning is the transfer of negative charges from the cloud to the ground, and typically comes from lightning formed at the base of the cloud.
Positive lightning originates in the upper parts of the cloud (anvil) and is the transfer of positive charges to the ground.
Positive lightning makes up less than 5% of all strikes, and is more dangerous than negative because:
- larger/stronger electric fields
- longer flash duration
- peak charges of 300,000 amps and 1 billion volts
- can strike more than 10 miles away from a storm, without hearing any thunder, called ‘bolt from the blue’
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