What factor causes the difference between fork and sheet lightning?

Fork lightning is the customary lightning most folk are familiar with, which goes from a cloud to a cloud, or a cloud to the ground. Vaguely resembling a tree, it tyically has “branches” which tendril out from the main blast. If this is occluded by clouds from the observer, it becomes sheet lightning.

What is the difference between forked lightning and sheet lightning?

People describe lightning as ‘sheet’ or ‘forked’, but the only difference between the two is where they take place. Forked lightning is the shape we see when the bolt hits the ground, and sheet lightning is lightning that occurs within a cloud, lighting it up sheet-style (so we only see the flashes, not the bolts).

Why is lightning forked?

The ionized air provides one or more lightning channels for the negative charges in the cloud to rush towards the ground. Sometimes the lightning channel finds more than one conductive path and branches out, giving lightning its forked appearance.

What determines lightning shape?

Lightning is jagged because each leader forms independently of the others. Each place a lightning bolt zigs or zags is where one leader stopped and another one started. Each place a lightning bolt forks is where two separate leaders formed from the bottom end of a single leader above.

What causes thunder lightning?

Thunder is caused by the rapid expansion of the air surrounding the path of a lightning bolt. From the clouds to a nearby tree or roof, a lightning bolt takes only a few thousandths of a second to split through the air. The loud thunder that follows the lightning bolt is commonly said to come from the bolt itself.

What causes lightning without thunder?

Thunder starts as a shockwave from the explosively expanding lightning channel when a large current causes rapid heating. However, it is possible that you might see lightning and not hear the thunder because it was too far away. Sometimes this is called “heat lightning” because it occurs most often in the summer.

Is all lightning Fork lightning?

Sheet lightning is just fork lightning that happens within a cloud, or when lightning is partly hidden by clouds. Heat lightning is like sheet lightning, but is so far away that you cannot hear the thunder. It is called this because it usually happens on a hot summer night.

What’s the difference between heat lightning and regular lightning?

The term heat lightning is commonly used to describe lightning from a distant thunderstorm just too far away to see the actual cloud-to-ground flash or to hear the accompanying thunder. Instead, the faint flash seen by the observer is light being reflected off higher-level clouds.

What is sheet lightning?

Sheet Lightning is a term used to describe clouds illuminated by a lightning discharge where the actual lightning channel is either inside the clouds or below the horizon (i.e. not visible to the observer).

Does lightning come up from the ground?

Cloud-to-ground (CG) lightning comes from the sky down, but the part you see comes from the ground up. A typical cloud-to-ground flash lowers a path of negative electricity (that we cannot see) towards the ground in a series of spurts. Objects on the ground generally have a positive charge under a typical thunderstorm.

What is difference between thunder and lightning?

Thunder is the rumbling sound that is heard during thunderstorms. Lightning is an electrical energy while thunder is a sound energy. 2. Both occur at the same time during a thunderstorm, but since light travels faster than sound, lightning is seen first before one can hear the sound of thunder.

How visible is forked lightning?

Forked lightning is quite visible as in the image above. Lightning comes out of a cloud and sometimes it forks, sometimes not, and strikes an object on the ground (cloud to ground) or another cloud (cloud to cloud) or even another part of the same cloud (in-cloud.) Sheet lightning can light up a entire cloud in a brief but spectacular display.

What is the difference between lightning and sheet lightning?

2 Answers 2. Sheet lightning is just lightning where you can’t see the strike because there is cloud in the way – the phenomena is the same. Lightning storms occur in Britain in regular rain storms, so along with lots of cloud which hide the strike.

What is the difference between forked and staccato Lightning?

Staccato lighting is CTG lightning comprising of a single, short-duration stroke, while Forked lightning splits and divides into two or more parts as it approaches the ground—sometimes looking like tree roots. A “Bolt from the Blue” often travels a relatively large horizontal distance through clear skies from its source cloud.

What is the difference between cloud flashes and lightning?

CLOUD FLASHES. Cloud flashes sometimes have visible channels that extend out into the air around the storm (cloud-to-air or CA), but do not strike the ground. The terms sheet lightning or intra-cloud lightning (IC) refers to lightning embedded within a cloud that lights up as a sheet of luminosity during the flash.