Must there be clouds in order to have lightning?

Answer 1

no,


Lightning / What Makes Lightning?
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What Makes lightning?
Lightning is a giant electric spark in the sky.

Electric charges exist in everything, including the air around us. We usually do not notice the electric forces created by the atmosphere. However when they become strong enough, the results are dramatic.

Storm clouds strengthen the electric forces created in the atmosphere. As drops of water rise through storm clouds, the electric charges in these drops are separated (no one is exactly sure how this happens).


Close-up of lightning strike
When the sky's electric forces become strong enough, air breaks down into a 'soup' of electric charges, called a plasma. Normally air is a gas that does not allow much electricity to flow. As a plasma, air can conduct massive electric sparks.

The air changes into a plasma in small steps, starting from the cloud and heading towards the ground. When the plasma channel nears the ground, one or more return strokes leap from the ground to the cloud. This is the lightning we see.


Cloud to cloud lightning
Actually, only one lightning strike in five reaches the ground—most happen between one cloud and another.

A lightning stroke lasts for about half a second. In this time a single lightning strike can release as much power as a large coal-burning power station.

Answer 2

yup, so negative charges could build up around. if the sky is clear, co clouds moving and no static electricity is made. and in order for lightning to happen, there must also be negative charges on the ground, so that these two negative charges meet to the middle as a lightning. there is also a lightning with in clouds when two negative charges collide with each other- so clouds should be present for a lightning to occur

Answer 3

Yes for lightning forms when the electric charge from the top and bottom of the cloud is too great and a discharge happens, that's lightning

Answer 4

yes, there has to be a cloud, but you may not see it. A bolt can travel a good number of miles from its cloud, generally 5 miles away is considered risky for sports events, and I have heard stories of 10 mile strikes.

Heat lightening is regular lightning, but the light travels in the atmosphere for upwards of 50 miles, the thunder will never reach you, but the light does.

Answer 5

In a practical sense, I would say yes. I have never seen or encountered lightning without clouds.

Answer 6

Yes, because as the water droplets reach freezing point, because of their movement they get charged. however, it usually happens that a particular cloud form has the same charge of droplets while another cloud may be having a different charge. when two dissimilarly charged clouds clash the result is lightening, which is like a spark of electricity actually. generally two ``bolts`` of lightening result. the earth absorbs the charge in the same way as it does when a fuse gets blown up in our domestic electric system. one lightening charge goes downwards while another complementary charge goes upwards.how it all exactly happens is still not clear to climatologists but attempts are on to produce lightening in the laboratory.

Answer 7

Lightning is so wonderful... A hot summer day will do the trick. Clouds? Bah humbug.

Answer 8

Nope. On clear, very hot days in dry places you can get "heat lightning" that literally comes from nowhere. I'm not sure what causes it, but it's pretty.

Answer 9

no, "heat lightning" happens without clouds

Answer 10

clouds, i am not sure, but rain is not necessary... dry lightning caused a fire in our area recently.