Can volcanoes cause thunder and lighting?

Question

Can volcanoes cause thunder and lighting?

Answer 1

h**l NO!

Answer 2

Yes.More than 150 times in the past two centuries, volcanic eruptions have been accompanied by spectacular displays of lightning. Sometimes broad bolts of lightning streak across the sky. Other times St. Elmo's fire (ball lightning) cascades from above. Sometimes volcanoes produce branching displays such as at Sakurajima (see photo above.) The 1981 eruption of Mt St Helens featured a spectacular display of sheet lightning, with truck-sized balls of St Elmo's fire seen rolling along the ground 29 miles north of the mountain. Other well-known volcanoes that produced lightning include Vesuvius (1944), Krakatau (1990's), Surtsey, the new volcanic island in Iceland (1963), and Paracutin, the cinder cone that grew out of a farmer's field in Mexico (1940's.)

Answer 3

unlikely, cold and warm fronts are to blame

Answer 4

no because volcanoes erupt from inside theearth, not in the high altitudes

Answer 5

YES, with all the magnetic energy they exert they can cause static electric storms which i think are essentially the same thing

Answer 6

Thunder and lightning occur when a large differential charge (perhaps 600,000 volts) seeks an easy path to ground.  A volcano can create a large cloud of charged gas that seeks ground or can provide an easy path for an existing charged storm cloud to seek ground.

Answer 7

Yep, sure can.

They can release huge clouds of dust and gas.  

The particles in these clouds can rub together, producing static charges that can build up, and evenutally produce lightning.