1. LIGHTNING

2. Lightning is a giant spark of electricity produced by a storm.
What is Lightning?
Lightning is a giant spark of electricity produced by a storm.

3. How is Lightning created?
Air needs to be pushed up and cooled creating ice crystals in the cloud
Ice crystals need to collide with each other creating electrical charges

4. How is Lightning created?
Positively charged ice crystals move to the top of the cloud and negatively charged particles move to the bottom of the cloud.

5. How is Lightning created?
Difference in electrical charges in the cloud create the positive charges in objects on the Earth’s surface to rise up.

6. How is Lightning created?
If the negatively charged particles in the cloud build up too much, it sends out a channel of negative particles toward the ground called a Leader

7. How is Lightning created?
When the Leader gets closer to the ground, it repels all of the negative particles in objects on the surface and attracts all the positive charges. The positive charges in the object build up and it sends out small bolts of ground to air lightning called Streamers.
Streamer
Leader

8. How is Lightning created?
When the Streamer makes contact with the Leader, lightning is created

9. How many types of lightning are there?
There are 4 types of lightning:
Cloud to Ground Lightning
Cloud to Cloud Lightning
Intra-Cloud Lightning
Cloud to Air Lightning

10. Lightning Characteristics
One stoke of lightning can have up to 1,000,000,000,000 watts (1 Trillion) or 1,000 Giga Watts of energy.
Energy from a lightning bolt heats the air up to 50,000 degrees Fahrenheit causing the air to explode creating thunder. 
Lightning strikes usually last around 1 or 2 microseconds.
Lightning can also occur during volcanic eruptions, dust storms, snow storms, forest fires and tornadoes.

11. Lightning Prevention
Don’t be outside, go in an enclosed building or in a hard-topped car
Stay away from water
Stay away from metal
Stay away from trees (tall one’s for sure)