The only significant effect is crackles and bangs audible on car radios and TV interference. As many as 42 repeat strokes have been recorded as forming one discharge, giving lightning its flickering effect. What we are seeing is a number of different strokes, all taking slightly different paths. Even where no obvious damage has occurred, the life of electronic equipment can be significantly reduced following a lightning surge. Failure of equipment may not happen immediately but may take months to happen.
Lightning is one of the leading weather-related cause of deaths and injuries.
Psychological effects of lightning incidents include memory loss, depression, headaches, confusion and inability to work. How Lightning is Generated Updraughts and downdraughts of air are fairly common events experienced by most of us and, indeed, used by glider pilots and balloonists to further their flights or bring them to a premature end. Such movements of air may be generated by heat coming from hillsides in full sun or by cold air masses pushing underneath warmer air in a frontal weather system. As the warm air rises, it progressively cools and forms a cloud consisting of water droplets and, at greater heights, ice crystals. A thunder cloud is a system of this type in which the air velocities are much greater than normal.