The results are impressive and highly promising, Rison said. The negative charge was at about 6 km altitude, and the positive charge was at 9 to 10 km. When discharge occurred when electric potential between the two regions became great enough to ionize a channel through air and become as conductive as a metal wire. Like snowflakes, each bolt is unique. It depends on the structure of the cloud.
Storms also are unique.
While some spit lightning at a seemingly leisurely pace, others are like hailstones hitting the roof. One supercell storm outside Oklahoma City fired almost nonstop. The black patch in this plot of lightning indicates that path of a tornado that formed in Oklahoma on June 13, 1998. The Lightning Mapping System did not see the tornado itself, but shows lightning snaking around the strong convective core that spawned the twister. Links to 570x720-pixel, 40KB GIF .