1. Lightning & Thunder

2. Thunderstorms US and World-wide There are over 100,000 T-storms in US per year –1 in 10 (10,000/yr) are SEVERE storms –1 in 10 of those (1000/yr) produce tornadoes 20,000,000 lightning strikes world-wide per year. –At any given time on Earth there are 2000 T- storms with up to 100 lightning strikes/sec

3. Lightning Formation FRICTION!!!

4. Lightning Formation- Vid Clip http://science.howstuffworks.com/nature/natural-disasters/lightning.htm

5. Lightning Safety

6. What to do- hug a tree?

7. Lightning Deaths & Injuries

8. Lightning Survival 60% of lightning victims survive –Most victims are INSIDE –On landline phone, computer or in the shower!!! Survival depends on the path of the current. –Long-term effects can be devastating (brain damage, memory loss, loss of control of various body functions)

9. What to do Stop, drop and roll?

10. Thunder Lightning does NOT make noise. –Just like the electrons traveling through a wire do not make noise. Thunder is the sound the AIR makes as a reaction to the lightning.

11. Thunder Lightning is 54,000 0 F or roughly 5 times the surface temperature of the Sun. –This is why it appears blue. Air surrounding the lightning gets super- heated and rapidly expands. Forms a shock wave that we hear as “thunder.”

12. Shock wave & Doppler

13. Rumble of Thunder When lightning strikes a shock wave is generated at each point along the path of the lightning bolt.

14. With nearby lightning strikes the thunder will sound like a loud bang, crack or snap and its duration will be very short.

15. As the shock wave propagates away from the strike center, it stretches, diminishes, and becomes elongated. Then other shock waves from more distance locations arrive at the listener.

16. At large distances from the center, the shock wave (thunder) can be many miles across. To the listener, the combination of shock waves gives thunder the continuous rumble we hear.

17. How far away was that lightning strike? You can determine a rough estimate of distance. Since sound moves around 700mph through air, you can estimate that it will travel roughly 1 mile in 5 seconds. So, after you see the flash of light (which virtually travels instantaneously) count how many seconds before you hear the thunder. Divide by 5= miles away

18. How else? Weatherbug.com or the weatherbug app provides estimated distance of lightning from your current location.