Lightning

Lightning is a giant electrical spark in the sky. Most of the lightning people see takes place between a cloud and the ground. But lightning also occurs within a cloud, between a cloud and the air, and between two clouds. When lightning occurs in the atmosphere, its electrical energy scatters in the air. This energy may damage airplanes traveling through it, but it does not cause harm on the ground. But lightning that strikes the …

…nights, seems to happen without thunder. Actually, it is lightning that occurs too far away from an onlooker for its accompanying thunder to be heard. The people underneath what looks from a distance like heat lightning are experiencing a normal thunderstorm. Sheet lightning appears as an illumination of a portion of the sky. But it is lightning whose distinct flashes either are too far away to be seen or are hidden from view by clouds.