The most common type of lightning in a thunderstorm is in-cloud lightning, which occurs within the cloud itself. An extremely rare form of lightning is called ball lightning . It is so rare that scientists often question its existence. Those who have witnessed ball lightning describe it as a round ball of fire seen on telephone wires or entering through windows and doors during a thunderstorm. Then there's heat lightning.
Heat lightning has nothing to do with how warm temperatures are on a summer's night.
It is actually lightning seen from a distant thunderstorm too far away for the thunder to be heard. Other elements of a thunderstorm include thunder and hail . Some of the most severe weather may occur in a microburst . Check how storms form for more information. Shopping Send us your feedback about this page.