Which way does lightning go? Does it strike from ground up or cloud down?

Question

Which way does lightning go? Does it strike from ground up or cloud down?

Answer 1

It starts from the ground and goes up to the clouds.

Answer 2

It comes from the clouds and finds someplace to hit on the ground, usually metal.

Answer 3

From the cloud down duh

Answer 4

cloud down lol

Answer 5

Cloud-to-ground lightning travels from the ground up towards the cloud the majority of the time.  What happens is a negatively charged leader (which we cannot see) called a stepped leader starts to reach from the cloud down toward the ground.  When it gets close enough to the ground, it can induce the discharge of positive charge on the ground, which creates the lightning strike we actually see.  It is this discharge channel becoming superheated and expanding very quickly that causes the sound of thunder that accompanies lightning.

Sometimes very tall objects can reach up to a cloud and create a stepped leader going up toward a cloud, resulting in a discharge from the cloud to the earth (as in the tall object); in other words, the lightning travels from the cloud down.

Cloud-to-cloud lightning follows the same process, except it occurs between different clouds, or within different areas of the cloud.

Answer 6

it can go any were if you hear it you close to get hit +s and -s chager  up in the cloud  

Answer 7

For the longest time, it was thought that it strikes from up to down, hence being struck by lightening.  Then, somebody slowed down a camera to show that it also goes from the ground, up.

I saw something recently where it showed both in one night.

So, my answer is, both.

Answer 8

lightning comes from the cloud and can go in a cloud-to-cloud direction (sheet lightning) or cloud to ground (fork lightning)

Answer 9

From cloud down.