Re: Nice spark picture!

["Tesla list" <tesla@xxxxxxxxxx>]

Original poster: Bert Hickman <bert.hickman@xxxxxxxxxx>

Tesla list wrote:

> Original poster: Terry Fritz <teslalist@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>
> Hi all,
> Here is a wonderful picture of a leader ground strike and lots of smaller 
> streamers:
> http://205.243.100.155/photos/Lightning/Lightling_Kane_Quinnell-1.JPG
> There is a nice lens shadow showing the main leader at vastly reduced 
> brightness to the left too.
> Cheers,
>     Terry

Hi Terry and all,

This monster bolt was almost certainly positive lightning from the top of a 
nearby storm. These lightning strikes are especially nasty not only because 
they may pack 10X the current, and the heavier current flows for much 
longer than regular [negative] lightning, but they have been known to 
propagate over 10 miles _horizontally_ from a storm! They are the fabled 
"bolt from the blue" - positive lightning has been known to come from  a 
storm on the other side of small mountains. The positive lightning goes 
OVER the mountains where it can strike a hapless individual sunning 
themselves on a beach on the other side of the mountains.

The text that goes with this picture (from the Australian amateur lightning 
photographer who took it) is on this page:
http://205.243.100.155/frames/longarc.htm#Pos-Lightning1

Best regards,

Bert
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