(Lightning Strike in Florida)Lightning is a flash of light that occurs when electrons flow between oppositely charged areas of a cloud, or from areas of negative to positive charge between Cumulonimbus clouds and the ground. Thunder occurs after lightning due to the rapid heating and cooling of the air and change of pressure around the bolt of lightning which causes a sonic crash of sound. The temperature around lightning can become as high as 54,000 degrees Fahrenheit.
(Notice how the lightning is depicted as traveling from negative to positively charged areas in the clouds and on the ground)
information sources: Page 667, Earth Science Tenth Edition, http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lightning
photo sources: http://z.about.com/d/goflorida/1/0/h/K/lightning.jpeg,
http://ffden2.phys.uaf.edu/212_fall2003.web.dir/Shawna_Sastamoinen/types_files/image004.gif
