Union, Illinois Lightning Strike

November 23, 2008

112208

Photographer: Donald Cox 
Summary Author: Donald Cox 

The photo above shows a lightning strike (triple strike) during a thunderstorm in Union, Illinois on July 18, 2007. When the lower portion of a negatively charged cumulonimbus cloud reacts to the generally positively charged Earth’s surface, discharges such as this occur. The amount of the humidity in the air and the strength of the electrical field each play a role in determining the color spectrum of lightning.