A thunderstorm of lightning cutting half the sky is one of the most stunning and terrifying natural phenomena that we have all seen at least once in our lives. Every year, thousands of people are killed by lightning strikes. The thunderstorm, however, is full of strange mysteries in addition to the mortal hazard.
People have long tried to figure out what a thunderstorm is and why it starts, and they've usually explained it away with gods' tricks or other supernatural creatures. Thunderclaps with flapping wings and lightning - flashing eyes were pictured by some primitive tribes as a thunderstorm in the shape of a giant bird. A thunderstorm almost always meant that people had misbehaved and enraged the gods.
A cloud is the beginning of every thunderstorm. Warm air currents raise water vapour from the Earth, which is created as a result of water evaporation from rivers, lakes, seas, and oceans. The vapour cools as it rises above the Earth; the higher it rises, the lower the air temperature. The vapour first condenses into liquid droplets, then ice crystals form, which then fall out as precipitation.
Although the mechanisms of lightning initiation in a cloud are not completely known, there is a widely accepted definition of thunderstorm cloud electrification. The charge builds up in the cloud's middle, where the air rushes upward quickly (updraft). A combination of water droplets, ice fragments, and soft hail forms due to the cold temperatures.
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