Super Cool Creations Lightning Bolt Mirrors - 35cm x 25cm

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Although sometimes used figuratively as above, the idea that lightning never strikes the same place twice is a common myth. In fact, lightning can, and often does, strike the same place more than once. Lightning in a thunderstorm is more likely to strike objects and spots that are more prominent or conductive. For instance, lightning strikes the Empire State Building in New York City on average 23 times per year. [182] [183] [184] About 90% of ionic channel lengths between "pools" are approximately 45m (148ft) in length. [50] The establishment of the ionic channel takes a comparatively long amount of time (hundreds of milliseconds) in comparison to the resulting discharge, which occurs within a few dozen microseconds. The electric current needed to establish the channel, measured in the tens or hundreds of amperes, is dwarfed by subsequent currents during the actual discharge.

Prostak, Sergio (April 11, 2013). "Scientists Explain Invisible 'Dark Lightning' ". Sci-News.com. Archived from the original on June 20, 2013 . Retrieved July 9, 2013. V.A. Rakov, M.A. Uman, Positive and bipolar lightning discharges to ground, in: Light. Phys. Eff., Cambridge University Press, 2003: pp. 214–240 Porter, Brett (1987). "Brett Porter, Photo in 1987, BBC:Ball lightning baffles scientists, day, 21 December, 2001, 00:26 GMT". Archived from the original on April 20, 2016. Lightning at a sufficient distance may be seen and not heard; there is data that a lightning storm can be seen at over 160km (100mi) whereas the thunder travels about 32km (20mi). Anecdotally, there are many examples of people saying 'the storm was directly overhead or all-around and yet there was no thunder'. Since thunderclouds can be up to 20km high, [111] lightning occurring high up in the cloud may appear close but is actually too far away to produce noticeable thunder.Cloud-to-ground (CG) lightning is a lightning discharge between a thundercloud and the ground. It is initiated by a stepped leader moving down from the cloud, which is met by a streamer moving up from the ground.

Because human beings are terrestrial and most of their possessions are on the Earth where lightning can damage or destroy them, cloud-to-ground (CG) lightning is the most studied and best understood of the three types, even though in-cloud (IC) and cloud-to-cloud (CC) are more common types of lightning. Lightning's relative unpredictability limits a complete explanation of how or why it occurs, even after hundreds of years of scientific investigation. Sheet lightning is cloud-to-cloud lightning that exhibits a diffuse brightening of the surface of a cloud, caused by the actual discharge path being hidden or too far away. The lightning itself cannot be seen by the spectator, so it appears as only a flash, or a sheet of light. The lightning may be too far away to discern individual flashes. An electron is not stable in liquid water with respect to a hydroxide ion plus dissolved hydrogen for the time scales involved in thunder storms. [21]Sympathetic lightning is the tendency of lightning to be loosely coordinated across long distances. Discharges can appear in clusters when viewed from space. [102] [103] [104] [ clarification needed]