NextPrevious

Atmospheric Phenomena

Lightning

What are the two forms of cloud-to-ground lightning?

Cloud-to-ground (CG) strokes of lightning come in negative and positive forms. Negative CGs, which make up about 95 percent of all such lightning strokes, occur when the ground becomes positively charged; a positive CG does the opposite, and the ground becomes negatively charged. Positive CGs tend to have more power and longer strike time; thus, they are more likely to cause damage and are blamed for starting more forest fires.



Close

This is a web preview of the "The Handy Weather Answer Book" app. Many features only work on your mobile device. If you like what you see, we hope you will consider buying. Get the App