Zeus's weapon has been cracked. Researchers say they have finally worked out how lightning forms, how it escapes the storm cloud that fosters it - and whether it will form a "bolt from the blue".
The theory, which is backed by a computer model, is the first to explain all of the different types of lightning that exist - from regular cloud-to-ground lightning, to gigantic "jet lightning" that escapes up through the top of clouds, to "bolts from the blue", which can strike the ground under blue skies, several kilometres away from a thunderstorm.
Storms
Scientific theories and experiments have failed to convince a physicist what's behind the mysterious natural phenomenon of ball lightning.
Emeritus Professor Bob Crompton of the Australian National University gave a presentation in Canberra this week on the latest scientific investigations into ball lightning, something once considered as likely as UFOs.
"I don't believe there is any satisfactory explanation so far," says Crompton for these small bright lights that appear after a lightning strike.
Emeritus Professor Bob Crompton of the Australian National University gave a presentation in Canberra this week on the latest scientific investigations into ball lightning, something once considered as likely as UFOs.
"I don't believe there is any satisfactory explanation so far," says Crompton for these small bright lights that appear after a lightning strike.
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| ©Unknown |
| Ball Lightning |
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| ©Mark Schiefelbein/AP |
| Lightning flashes through the sky as neighbors look through the wreckage of a home destroyed by a tornado near Niangua, Missouri, on Monday, January 7, 2008. |
A freak cluster of tornadoes raked across an unseasonably warm U.S. Midwest, demolishing houses, knocking railroad cars off their tracks, and even temporarily halting justice in one courthouse.
Record temperatures were reported across much of the country Monday, and storms continued to pummel the nation's midsection as darkness fell. More warmth and storms were in store for Tuesday.
Sprites are likely generated by major lightning strikes.
Giant red blobs, picket fences, upward branching carrots, and tentacled octopi - these are just a few of the phrases used to describe sprites - spectacular, eerie flashes of colored light high above the tops of powerful thunderstorms that can travel up to 50 miles high in the atmosphere.
Sprites, so-named by a University of Alaska scientist inspired by the creatures in Shakespeare's "The Tempest," have been observed since the 1800s, though rarely visible from the ground. Aircraft pilots began reporting sightings of sprites in the 1950s and '60s, but they were not formally identified until 1989 when the Space Shuttle (STS-34) recorded the flashes as it passed over a thunderstorm in northern Australia. While many theories have been offered on the cause of this rare phenomenon, new NASA-funded research is settling the mystery and helping to determine the driving force behind these marvel displays of light.
Giant red blobs, picket fences, upward branching carrots, and tentacled octopi - these are just a few of the phrases used to describe sprites - spectacular, eerie flashes of colored light high above the tops of powerful thunderstorms that can travel up to 50 miles high in the atmosphere.
Sprites, so-named by a University of Alaska scientist inspired by the creatures in Shakespeare's "The Tempest," have been observed since the 1800s, though rarely visible from the ground. Aircraft pilots began reporting sightings of sprites in the 1950s and '60s, but they were not formally identified until 1989 when the Space Shuttle (STS-34) recorded the flashes as it passed over a thunderstorm in northern Australia. While many theories have been offered on the cause of this rare phenomenon, new NASA-funded research is settling the mystery and helping to determine the driving force behind these marvel displays of light.
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| ©ISUAL Project, NCKU/NSPO, Taiwan |
| This dramatic, garishly colored image was captured with a low-light level camera on June 7, 2001. It shows what appears to be a "burning tree", or red sprite, above the National Cheng Kung University campus in Tainan City, Taiwan. |
Nearby Venus is looking a bit more Earth-like with frequent bursts of lightning confirmed by a new European space probe.
For nearly three decades, astronomers have said Venus probably had lightning - ever since a 1978 NASA probe showed signs of electrical activity in its atmosphere. But experts weren't sure because of signal interference.
For nearly three decades, astronomers have said Venus probably had lightning - ever since a 1978 NASA probe showed signs of electrical activity in its atmosphere. But experts weren't sure because of signal interference.
Amin Subah, a 21-year-old resident of the village of Sheikh Danun was killed Monday afternoon after being struck by lightning near Achziv in northern Israel. Subah, who was fishing with his father and brother, was standing on the beach when the lightning bolt struck. A Magen David Adom team was quickly called to the scene and pronounced the man dead.
The tragedy occurred around 3:30 pm on the beach next to the local Achziv school. Subah and his father were reportedly standing on a jetty when the bolt struck.
Paramedics were alerted to the scene and pronounced him dead. The Nahariya police department confirmed that the death was caused by lightning and said parts of the body were badly burnt.
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| ©Hagai Aharon |
| Lightning storm over Jezreel Valley Monday night |
The tragedy occurred around 3:30 pm on the beach next to the local Achziv school. Subah and his father were reportedly standing on a jetty when the bolt struck.
Paramedics were alerted to the scene and pronounced him dead. The Nahariya police department confirmed that the death was caused by lightning and said parts of the body were badly burnt.
What an encore!
A day after wind gusts of over 60 mph Thursday, Western Washington was "treated" to a second round of storms Friday.
A large cool of very cold, unstable air moved into the region Friday, lighting up the radar with widespread showers that brought heavy rain, large hail, and frequent lightning across the Puget Sound area -- thunderstorms that were certainly big by Northwest standards.
A day after wind gusts of over 60 mph Thursday, Western Washington was "treated" to a second round of storms Friday.
A large cool of very cold, unstable air moved into the region Friday, lighting up the radar with widespread showers that brought heavy rain, large hail, and frequent lightning across the Puget Sound area -- thunderstorms that were certainly big by Northwest standards.
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| ©K. McAlpine |
Images from a NASA probe have shown that lightning does occur at the poles on Jupiter, a phenomenon previously only seen on Earth, a study released Tuesday said.
Lightning strikes had previously been observed at lower latitudes and around the equator on the gas planet but the jagged bolts of electricity had never been observed at either of its two poles, puzzling astronomers.
Lightning strikes had previously been observed at lower latitudes and around the equator on the gas planet but the jagged bolts of electricity had never been observed at either of its two poles, puzzling astronomers.
The storm struck at about 9:15 a.m. Wednesday with intense 60-80 mile an hour winds, pouring rain and golf-ball-size hail. The storm only lasted 45 intense minutes, but early estimates suggest about a half million dollars in damage.
Robin Hobbs house was hit hard by the storm. It uprooted two trees in her backyard and ripped the power lines right out of her house.
"It started as a normal thunderstorm, but then all of a sudden it hit all four sides of the house with hail and rain and lightning," she said.
Robin Hobbs house was hit hard by the storm. It uprooted two trees in her backyard and ripped the power lines right out of her house.
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| ©Danny Snyder / Times West Virginian |
| Strong thunderstorms packing hail and winds estimated at between 60-80 mph uprooted trees in a narrow swath of Marion County from Fairview to just north of Rivesville Wednesday night. |
"It started as a normal thunderstorm, but then all of a sudden it hit all four sides of the house with hail and rain and lightning," she said.
Darkness continues to envelop Grand Caverns, America's oldest show cave, after a lightning strike damaged the attraction's electrical system earlier this month, officials there say.
Charmaine Detrow, an education coordinator at the Grottoes park, said caverns officials are still mystified as to how cables and a light box, which provide illumination for tours, were struck by lightning. She said the system is inside the cave with no exposure to the elements.
"There's no doubt in our minds it got hit," she said. "The plastic switches are melted onto the metal box."
Charmaine Detrow, an education coordinator at the Grottoes park, said caverns officials are still mystified as to how cables and a light box, which provide illumination for tours, were struck by lightning. She said the system is inside the cave with no exposure to the elements.
"There's no doubt in our minds it got hit," she said. "The plastic switches are melted onto the metal box."
