Questions about lightning?

Question

am just curious and I have a few questions.

1.) Is lightning usually positive or negative energy?

2.) If so, what neutralizes ( or -) lightning?

3.) When lightning strikes the ground, does that electricity get into the earth and is it stored there?

4.) Besides burning things, is there natural electricity like the kind found in lightning so that, let's say if something thrived off the electricity in lightning and there was no lightning present, could it get it from some other source?

5.) What type of weather (meaning humidity, hot, cold, ect) is associated with thunder storms?

Thanks! This is research for something I am writing FOR FUN and I just can't seem to find my answers on the internet.

Answer 1

Mesoscale convective complexes are very dangerous because these big thunderstorm complexes are often fueled by tremendous atmospheric lift. Excessive atmospheric lift, especially from the surface to the troposphere, is one main ingredient for thunderstorms. They can not only be prolific lightning producers, but can produce large hail and tornadoes. Often called MCCs, these can also be heavy producers of positive lightning.

Positive lightning is even deadlier than negative lightning when it is cloud to ground. Positive lightning has much higher amperage and hence can cause more damage....and is even louder in thunder than negative lightning.

High winds from thunderstorms can occasionally neutralize lightning's straight ionized path, especially if lightning goes cloud-to-ground. But not completely.

Thunderstorms, in addition to thunder and lightning, can also produce heavy rain, strong winds of various types, such as derechos, gust fronts, and microbursts, and in some cases, tornadoes, and also hail of various types.

And my only guess of what lightning is containing is I guess is nitrogen.....nitrogen is released on almost every lightning flash.

One more thing.....thunderstorms can also, if rarely, appear in snowstorms as well as rainstorms.....also known as thundersnow. Snow with thunder and lightning, often seen in the cold seasons, can be blamed on upper vertical vorticity and strong dynamic liftning....the two other lifiting mechanisms for thunderstorms.

Answer 2

This is or was a research facility dedicated to the study of lightning

http://www.ee.nmt.edu/~langmuir/

Looks like they are studying other subjects now, but there is information and links that might be of interest.

I think Florida also has such a facility at NASA as they worry about the spacecrafts being struck.  In fact they are building some huge towers (600 feet) with down strung wire to protect the new Ares rockets.  Looks like one of Marconi's antennas.