When a storm’s charging zone sits close to the earth’s surface, the resulting “superbolts” can be 1,000 times stronger than regular lightning.
When a storm’s charging zone sits close to the earth’s surface, the resulting “superbolts” can be 1,000 times stronger than regular lightning.
Superbolts are more likely to strike the closer a storm cloud’s electrical charging zone is to the land or ocean’s surface, a new study finds. These conditions are responsible for superbolt “hotspots” above some oceans and tall mountains.
Superbolts make up less than 1% of total lightning, but when they do strike, they pack a powerful punch. While the average lightning strike contains around 300 million volts, superbolts are 1,000 times stronger and can cause major damage to infrastructure and ships, the authors say.
“Superbolts, even though they’re only a very, very tiny percentage of all lightning, they’re a magnificent phenomenon,” said Avichay Efraim, a physicist at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem and lead author of this study.
Read more at American Geophysical Union
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