2006-08-12 12:55:01 · 4 answers · asked by ullis 4 in Science & Mathematics ➔ Physics
dry heat
2006-08-12 13:00:10 · answer #1 · answered by echiasso 3 · 0⤊ 0⤋
It's called "heat lightning," caused by a build-up of charged particles in the air.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Heat_lightning#Heat_lightning_or_summer_lightning
Few scientists believe in "heat lightning." They insist it's just lightning too far away to hear the tthunder. Some say it happens only at night.
Having seen heat lightning in broad daylight, I know it occurs during the day. It is usually far off, so it may be you can't see the clouds. When I saw it, I was walking home from school and when I got home, the news was all over the radio about the famous Worcester tornado. That was the direction I saw the lighning in, from Leominster, 12 miles away.
2006-08-12 20:13:39 · answer #2 · answered by thylawyer 7 · 0⤊ 0⤋
Lightning actually does strike "from the blue". Sometimes a lightning flash will travel for miles from the point of origin before it strikes. There are 3 different kinds of lightning, cloud to cloud, cloud to ground, and ground to cloud. I don't remember the specifics of what makes a lightning strike "skip" but I know it is possible. I would consider myself fortunate to have seen this and even more fortunate that I did not see it "up close and personal".
2006-08-12 20:07:48 · answer #3 · answered by leadfoot126 4 · 0⤊ 0⤋
could have been heat lightening
2006-08-12 19:59:26 · answer #4 · answered by hethbabe 2 · 0⤊ 0⤋