4 ms·

There are places without lightning? How does that work, isn't it just caused by quick warm:cold transitions and don't these happen everywhere?

orangepurple 4y ago
One of the main predictors is convective available potential energy, or the integrated amount of work that the upward (positive) buoyancy force would perform on a given mass of air (called an air parcel) if it rose vertically through the entire atmosphere https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Convective_available_potential_energy https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Convective_available_potential... Lightning flash rate May 4, 1995 - December 31, 2013 https://earthobservatory.nasa.gov/images/85600/global-lightning-activity https://earthobservatory.nasa.gov/images/85600/global-lightn... Global lightning strikes from January 1998 to April 2015 from the NASA/MSFC Lightning Imaging Sensor on the Tropical Rainfall Measuring Mission satellite. https://ghrc.nsstc.nasa.gov/lightning/images/browse/mission.png https://ghrc.nsstc.nasa.gov/lightning/images/browse/mission....
- 411111111111111 4y ago
  It looks pretty unlikely for a person anywhere to go 40 years without witnessing lightning from looking at these visualizations, honestly. I'm living in an area which is pretty much in a dead zone on these graphs and have seen at least some lightning each year. Admittedly, most years only have pretty small bolts but that's a different story
  - orangepurple 4y ago
    It is absolutely possible if you live on an island in the Pacific Ocean such as Hawaii.
    - heywoodlh 4y ago
      Born and grew up on Oahu and moved to the mainland when I was a teen. Can definitely say that while I saw bright flashes of light from lightning during hurricane season I never actually saw the bolts of lightning until moving away from Hawaii.
  - owenversteeg 4y ago
    It just takes a few factors to bring someone's chances way down. For example: - Someone who is indoors for the most lightning-active hours can easily bring their chance of seeing lightning way down [0] - If you live in a dead zone, you can see 2+ orders of magnitude less lightning per year [0 and 1] - People vary a lot in how much time they spend outdoors. Some people spend a half an hour outdoors each day, some spend five; there's another order of magnitude. - If you live in a city or a valley, you often have a far more limited view as opposed to someone on a hill or flat land. If you live on the lower floors of an apartment building in a city, for example, you may only see the rest of your block, versus others that can see several square miles. Just those four factors together and you've got a plausible several order of magnitude difference in how much lightning people see. I think it's totally possible there's a good chunk of the population that's never seen it. [0] https://earthscience.stackexchange.com/questions/4967/are-lightning-storms-more-common-at-night https://earthscience.stackexchange.com/questions/4967/are-li... [1] https://earthobservatory.nasa.gov/images/85600/global-lightning-activity https://earthobservatory.nasa.gov/images/85600/global-lightn... (also referenced in gp)
- jgwil2 4y ago
  Can anyone explain in simple terms why it seems that it occurs relatively frequently in the centers of continents and infrequently in the middle of the ocean?
  - stonemetal12 4y ago
    Dry air is a good insulator so larger charge differentials can occur. Wet air isn't as good an insulator so charge doesn't build up. That is also why Lightning tends to happen during rain storms, the insulator breaks down and allows the charge to flow.
deleted 4y ago
[deleted]
bushbaba 4y ago
In the 8 years of me living in the Bay Area. I think I’ve seen lightning maybe twice in the area.
irrational 4y ago
Maybe we don’t hand the warm cold transition? I also heard it has something to do with our clouds are always low and warm instead of high and cold, which apparently has something to do with making lightning. I really don’t know the reason our region doesn’t have lightning.
whimsicalism 4y ago
Bay Area doesn't really have lightning or thunderstorms. Makes me sad.

orangepurple 4y ago

One of the main predictors is convective available potential energy, or the integrated amount of work that the upward (positive) buoyancy force would perform on a given mass of air (called an air parcel) if it rose vertically through the entire atmosphere https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Convective_available_potential_energy https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Convective_available_potential... Lightning flash rate May 4, 1995 - December 31, 2013 https://earthobservatory.nasa.gov/images/85600/global-lightning-activity https://earthobservatory.nasa.gov/images/85600/global-lightn... Global lightning strikes from January 1998 to April 2015 from the NASA/MSFC Lightning Imaging Sensor on the Tropical Rainfall Measuring Mission satellite. https://ghrc.nsstc.nasa.gov/lightning/images/browse/mission.png https://ghrc.nsstc.nasa.gov/lightning/images/browse/mission....

411111111111111 4y ago
It looks pretty unlikely for a person anywhere to go 40 years without witnessing lightning from looking at these visualizations, honestly. I'm living in an area which is pretty much in a dead zone on these graphs and have seen at least some lightning each year. Admittedly, most years only have pretty small bolts but that's a different story
- orangepurple 4y ago
  It is absolutely possible if you live on an island in the Pacific Ocean such as Hawaii.
  - heywoodlh 4y ago
    Born and grew up on Oahu and moved to the mainland when I was a teen. Can definitely say that while I saw bright flashes of light from lightning during hurricane season I never actually saw the bolts of lightning until moving away from Hawaii.
- owenversteeg 4y ago
  It just takes a few factors to bring someone's chances way down. For example: - Someone who is indoors for the most lightning-active hours can easily bring their chance of seeing lightning way down [0] - If you live in a dead zone, you can see 2+ orders of magnitude less lightning per year [0 and 1] - People vary a lot in how much time they spend outdoors. Some people spend a half an hour outdoors each day, some spend five; there's another order of magnitude. - If you live in a city or a valley, you often have a far more limited view as opposed to someone on a hill or flat land. If you live on the lower floors of an apartment building in a city, for example, you may only see the rest of your block, versus others that can see several square miles. Just those four factors together and you've got a plausible several order of magnitude difference in how much lightning people see. I think it's totally possible there's a good chunk of the population that's never seen it. [0] https://earthscience.stackexchange.com/questions/4967/are-lightning-storms-more-common-at-night https://earthscience.stackexchange.com/questions/4967/are-li... [1] https://earthobservatory.nasa.gov/images/85600/global-lightning-activity https://earthobservatory.nasa.gov/images/85600/global-lightn... (also referenced in gp)
jgwil2 4y ago
Can anyone explain in simple terms why it seems that it occurs relatively frequently in the centers of continents and infrequently in the middle of the ocean?
- stonemetal12 4y ago
  Dry air is a good insulator so larger charge differentials can occur. Wet air isn't as good an insulator so charge doesn't build up. That is also why Lightning tends to happen during rain storms, the insulator breaks down and allows the charge to flow.

deleted 4y ago

[deleted]

bushbaba 4y ago

In the 8 years of me living in the Bay Area. I think I’ve seen lightning maybe twice in the area.

irrational 4y ago

Maybe we don’t hand the warm cold transition? I also heard it has something to do with our clouds are always low and warm instead of high and cold, which apparently has something to do with making lightning. I really don’t know the reason our region doesn’t have lightning.

whimsicalism 4y ago

Bay Area doesn't really have lightning or thunderstorms. Makes me sad.