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Lightning results from electrical charge separation within thunderstorms and subsequent discharge.

The Claim

Lightning is caused by clouds colliding with each other.

Verified by Lenz ·

The Short Version

Lightning arises from electrical charge separation within thunderstorms, not from clouds colliding. Collisions among microscopic ice crystals, graupel, and water particles help separate charge; when the resulting electric field becomes strong enough, an electrical discharge occurs. The claim mistakes these internal particle interactions for collisions between whole clouds.

Caveats

  • The claim confuses microscopic particle collisions inside thunderstorms with collisions between whole clouds.
  • Lightning can travel between clouds, but that does not mean cloud collisions caused it.
  • Particle collisions contribute to charge separation; they should not be described as the entire discharge process.

The Receipts

  1. What Causes Lightning and Thunder? | NESDIS | National Environmental Satellite, Data, and Information Service

    nesdis.noaa.gov

  2. Distinct effects of several ice production processes on thunderstorm electrification and lightning activity

    doi.org

  3. The Ice Crystal–Graupel Collision Charging Mechanism of Thunderstorm Electrification

    doi.org

  4. The Ice Crystal–Graupel Collision Charging Mechanism of ...

    journals.ametsoc.org

  5. A possible new molecular mechanism of thundercloud electrification

    sciencedirect.com

  6. Charging of ice-vapor interfaces: applications to thunderstorms

    doi.org

  7. Charging Mechanism of Lightning at the Molecular Level

    doi.org

  8. Multiple Environmental Influences on the Lightning of Cold-Based Continental Cumulonimbus Clouds. Part I: Description and Validation of Model

    journals.ametsoc.org

  9. Electrification in Mesoscale Updrafts of Deep Stratiform and Anvil Clouds in Florida

    doi.org

  10. Initial electrification to the first lightning flash in New Mexico thunderstorms

    agupubs.onlinelibrary.wiley.com

+ 26 more sources — see the full list on Lenz

Filed Under

lightningThunderclouds

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