Lightning Strikes From The Ground Upwards

Positive lightening travels in reverse by going from the ground up into clouds.

Lightning strikes from the ground upwards.

The electric field change caused by the preceding flash causes an upward positive leader to initiate from a tall object such as a building tower or wind turbine. They mostly originate in a cumulonimbus cloud and terminate on the ground called cloud to ground lightning. Taller objects are more likely than shorter objects to produce the upward channel. A lightning bolt is created from the ground up and also down from the sky.

A lightning strike or lightning bolt is an electric discharge between the atmosphere and the ground. The two opposide moving leaders meet in midair usually at a point about 300 feet or less above ground. Most are intra cloud l. This phenomenon occurs because of a difference in charge between a storm cloud and the ground.

A less common type of strike called ground to cloud lightning is upward propagating lightning initiated from a tall grounded object and reaching into the clouds. When these two streamers or ion groups meet visible lightning is created. This type of lightning can be triggered by a preceding lightning flash or it may initiate entirely on its own. Upward lightning or ground to cloud lightning is a lightning flash which originates from the top of a grounded object and propagates upward from this point.

When the tip of the stepped leader approaches the ground one or more upward moving leaders initiate from the ground. First the base of a cloud sends down a little electric discharge called a stepped leader. It descends to the ground in steps each about 50 yards about 46 meters in length. For a negative cloud to ground discharge the most common type of lightning striking the ground the stepped leader the channel of ionized air begins in the lower section of a thunderstorm cloud and propagates downward.

About 25 of all lightning events worldwide are strikes between the atmosphere and earth bound objects. Typically when lightning strikes something on the ground the object that is struck sends a faint channel upward that joins the downward developing flash and creates the connection to the ground. Negative charges from a thunderstorm slowly lower to the ground while positive charges rise from the ground or an object toward the sky. The most important finding about upward lightning is that it primarily occurs when there is a nearby positive cloud to ground flash.