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The rapidly changing currents also create electromagnetic pulses (EMPs) that radiate outward from the ionic channel. This is a characteristic of all electrical discharges. The radiated pulses rapidly weaken as their distance from the origin increases. However, if they pass over conductive elements such as power lines, communication lines, or metallic pipes, they may induce a current which travels outward to its termination. The surge current is inversely related to the surge impedance: the higher in impedance, the lower the current. [69] This is the surge that, more often than not, results in the destruction of delicate electronics, electrical appliances, or electric motors. Devices known as surge protectors (SPD) or transient voltage surge suppressors (TVSS) attached in parallel with these lines can detect the lightning flash's transient irregular current, and, through alteration of its physical properties, route the spike to an attached earthing ground, thereby protecting the equipment from damage. Colvin, J. D.; Mitchell, C. K.; Greig, J. R.; Murphy, D. P.; Pechacek, R. E.; Raleigh, M. (1987). "An empirical study of the nuclear explosion-induced lightning seen on IVY-MIKE". Journal of Geophysical Research. 92 (D5): 5696–5712. Bibcode: 1987JGR....92.5696C. doi: 10.1029/JD092iD05p05696. As a result of their greater power, positive lightning strikes are considerably more dangerous than negative strikes. Positive lightning produces both higher peak currents and longer continuing currents, making them capable of heating surfaces to much higher levels which increases the likelihood of a fire being ignited. The long distances positive lightning can propagate through clear air explains why they are known as "bolts from the blue", giving no warning to observers. The best-studied and understood form of lightning is cloud to ground (CG) lightning. Although more common, intra-cloud (IC) and cloud-to-cloud (CC) flashes are very difficult to study given there are no "physical" points to monitor inside the clouds. Also, given the very low probability of lightning striking the same point repeatedly and consistently, scientific inquiry is difficult even in areas of high CG frequency. A lightning strike from cloud to ground in the Mojave Desert, California An intra-cloud flash. A lightning flash within the cloud illuminates the entire cloud. Lightning leaders A downward leader travels towards earth, branching as it goes. Lightning strike caused by the connection of two leaders, positive shown in blue and negative in red

Main article: Distribution of lightning Data from space-based sensors reveal the uneven distribution of worldwide lightning strikes. Units: flashes/km2/yr. Data obtained from April 1995 to February 2003 from NASA's Optical Transient Detector and from January 1998 to February 2003 from NASA's Lightning Imaging Sensor.Bond, D.W.; Steiger, S.; Zhang, R.; Tie, X.; Orville, R.E. (2002). "The importance of NOx production by lightning in the tropics". Atmospheric Environment. 36 (9): 1509–1519. Bibcode: 2002AtmEn..36.1509B. doi: 10.1016/s1352-2310(01)00553-2. As negatively charged leaders approach, increasing the localized electric field strength, grounded objects already experiencing corona discharge will exceed a threshold and form upward streamers.

There are variations of each type, such as "positive" versus "negative" CG flashes, that have different physical characteristics common to each which can be measured. Different common names used to describe a particular lightning event may be attributed to the same or to different events. Francis, G. W., "Electrostatic Experiments" Oleg D. Jefimenko, Editor, Electret Scientific Company, Star City, 2005

Minin, V. F.; Baibulatov, F. Kh. (1969). "On the nature of beaded lightning". Dokl. Akad. Nauk SSSR. 188 (4): 795–798. In French and Italian, the expression for "Love at first sight" is coup de foudre and colpo di fulmine, respectively, which literally translated means "lightning strike". Some European languages have a separate word for lightning which strikes the ground (as opposed to lightning in general); often it is a cognate of the English word "rays". The name of Australia's most celebrated thoroughbred horse, Phar Lap, derives from the shared Zhuang and Thai word for lightning. [185] Political and military culture Two lightning bolts pictured in the former coat of arms of the Yli-Ii municipality Elves are rapidly expanding disk-shaped glowing regions up to 300 miles in diameter. They last less than a thousandth of a second and occur above areas of active CG lightning. Scientists believe elves result when an energetic electromagnetic pulse extends up into the ionosphere. The bolt of lightning in heraldry is called a thunderbolt and is shown as a zigzag with non-pointed ends. This symbol usually represents power and speed. Kifuka – place where lightning strikes most often". Wondermondo. November 7, 2010. Archived from the original on October 1, 2011 . Retrieved November 21, 2010.

Vonnegut, B.; Vaughan, O. H., Jr.; Brook, M.; Krehbiel, P. (1984) "Mesoscale observations of lightning from Space Shuttle" NASA Technical Memorandum 86451. From p. 1: "Here is another description by Astronaut Gibson of lightning over the Andes, " … A few things which impressed me here: One is the fact that they [i.e., lightning strikes] could go off simultaneously or near simultaneously over a large distance — sympathetic lightning bolts, if you will, analogous to sympathetic flares on the sun. … " Winter storms usually produce the greatest proportion of CG flashes in the UK. This is because lightning-producing clouds are associated with active cold and occluded fronts. Still, many are also embedded in the polar maritime air mass afterwards (the typical wintry showers which affect the country’s western half, producing soft hail) and marked on the synoptic charts as troughs. Given that the relatively warm sea is the source of instability, these showers can be present day and night and produce infrequent but very powerful CG flashes of up to ~300,000 amps! (typical lightning is ~20kA). Their bias towards powerful CG flashes is thought to be due to their sheared, low cloud tops. The positive charge at the top of these clouds overhangs the lower negative charge, which would otherwise screen the upper charge from the ground, encouraging a direct, powerful lightning flash between the top of the cloud and the ground.Tennakone, Kirthi (2007). "Ball Lightning". Georgia State University. Archived from the original on February 12, 2008 . Retrieved September 21, 2007. Goulde, R.H. (1977) "The lightning conductor", pp. 545–576 in Lightning Protection, R.H. Golde, Ed., Lightning, Vol. 2, Academic Press. a b Lu, Gaopeng; Cummer, Steven A; Blakeslee, Richard J; Weiss, Stephanie; Beasley, William H (2012). "Lightning morphology and impulse charge moment change of high peak current negative strokes". Journal of Geophysical Research: Atmospheres. 117 (D4): n/a. Bibcode: 2012JGRD..117.4212L. CiteSeerX 10.1.1.308.9842. doi: 10.1029/2011JD016890.

Cloud-to-ground (CG) lightning is either positive or negative, as defined by the direction of the conventional electric current between cloud and ground. Most CG lightning is negative, meaning that a negative charge is transferred to ground and electrons travel downward along the lightning channel (conventionally the current flows from the ground to the cloud). The reverse happens in a positive CG flash, where electrons travel upward along the lightning channel and a positive charge is transferred to the ground (conventionally the current flows from the cloud to the ground). Positive lightning is less common than negative lightning, and on average makes up less than 5% of all lightning strikes. [73] A bolt from the blue lightning strike which appears to initiate from the clear, but the turbulent sky above the anvil cloud and drive a bolt of plasma through the cloud directly to the ground. They are commonly referred to as positive flashes, despite the fact that they are usually negative in polarity. In general, CG lightning flashes account for only 25% of all total lightning flashes worldwide. Since the base of a thunderstorm is usually negatively charged, this is where most CG lightning originates. This region is typically at the elevation where freezing occurs within the cloud. Freezing, combined with collisions between ice and water, appears to be a critical part of the initial charge development and separation process. During wind-driven collisions, ice crystals tend to develop a positive charge, while a heavier, slushy mixture of ice and water (called graupel) develops a negative charge. Updrafts within a storm cloud separate the lighter ice crystals from the heavier graupel, causing the top region of the cloud to accumulate a positive space charge while the lower level accumulates a negative space charge. Starting in 2016, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration launched Geostationary Operational Environmental Satellite–R Series (GOES-R) weather satellites outfitted with Geostationary Lightning Mapper (GLM) instruments which are near-infrared optical transient detectors that can detect the momentary changes in an optical scene, indicating the presence of lightning. [148] [149] The lighting detection data can be converted into a real-time map of lightning activity across the Western Hemisphere; this mapping technique has been implemented by the United States National Weather Service. [150]Dash, J G; Wettlaufer, J S (January 1, 2003). "The surface physics of ice in thunderstorms". Canadian Journal of Physics. 81 (1–2): 201–207. Bibcode: 2003CaJPh..81..201D. doi: 10.1139/P03-011. Desmet, S; Orban, F; Grandjean, F (April 1, 1989). "On the Kelvin electrostatic generator". European Journal of Physics. 10 (2): 118–122. Bibcode: 1989EJPh...10..118D. doi: 10.1088/0143-0807/10/2/008. S2CID 121840275. Cowen, Ron (November 6, 2009). "Signature of antimatter detected in lightning". Science News. Archived from the original on July 28, 2023 . Retrieved July 28, 2023. Airplane contrails have also been observed to influence lightning to a small degree. The water vapor-dense contrails of airplanes may provide a lower resistance pathway through the atmosphere having some influence upon the establishment of an ionic pathway for a lightning flash to follow. [131] V. Cooray, Mechanism of the Lightning Flash, in The Lightning Flash, 2nd ed., V. Cooray (Ed.), The Institution of Engineering and Technology, London, United Kingdom, 2014, pp. 119–229