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Lightning is a massive electrostatic discharge caused by unbalanced electric charges in the atmosphere, and resulting in a strike, from a cloud to itself, a cloud to a cloud or a cloud to ground, and accompanied by the loud sound of thunder. A typical cloud to ground lightning strike jumps a 5 km (3 mi) gap through the air. A typical thunderstorm has three or more strikes per minute at its peak

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Lightning is usually produced by cumulonimbus clouds

 Lightning also occurs during snow storms (thundersnow), volcanic eruptions, dust storms, forest fires or tornadoes. Hurricanes typically generate some lightning

When the local electric field exceeds the dielectric strength of damp air (about 3 million volts per meter), electrical discharge results in a strike, often followed by commensurate discharges branching from the same path. (See image, right.) Mechanisms that cause the charges to build up to lightning are still a matter of scientific investigation. Lightning may be caused by the circulation of warm moisture-filled air through electric fields

The science of lightning is called fulminology.[12] The fear of lightning is called astraphobia

The base of the negative region in a cloud is typically at the elevation where freezing occurs

charges are separated when ice crystals rebound off graupel. Charge separation appears to require strong updrafts which carry water droplets upward, supercooling them

Charge separation and accumulation continue until the electrical potential becomes sufficient to initiate a lightning discharge

A similar cloud-to-cloud strike consisting of a brief flash over a small area, appearing like a blip, also occurs in a similar area of rotating updrafts

Forked lightning

runaway breakdown induced