How is Lightning Formed?

Lightning is caused by an electrical discharge of electrons moving very

quickly from one place to another. These electrons move so quickly that
they superheat the air around them causing it to glow.

HOW IS THUNDER FORMED?

ANY SOUND YOU HEAR IS MADE UP OF VIBRATIONS. THE VIBRATIONS TRAVEL AS A SOUND WAVE
THROUGH THE AIR, UNTIL THEY REACH YOUR EAR. LIGHTNING IS A HUGE DISCHARGE OF ELECTRICITY,
AND THIS ELECTRICITY SHOOTS THROUGH THE AIR, CAUSING VIBRATIONS TO BE FORMED

WHAT CAUSES THUNDER?

THUNDER IS THE SOUND CAUSED BY LIGHTNING. DEPENDING ON THE DISTANCE AND NATURE
OF THE LIGHTNING , THUNDER CAN RANGE FROM A SHARP , LOUD CRACK TO A LONG, LOW
RUMBLE (BRONTIDE). THE SUDDEN INCREASE IN PRESSURE AND TEMPERATURE FROM
LIGHTNING PRODUCES RAPID EXPANSION OF THE AIRSURROUNDING AND WITHIN A BOLT OF
LIGHTNING . IN TURN , THIS EXPANSION OF AIR CREATES A SONIC SHOCK WAVE , SIMILAR TO
A SONIC BOOM, WHICH PRODUCES THE SOUND OF THUNDER , OFTEN REFERRED TO AS
A CLAP, CRACK, PEAL OF THUNDER , OR BOOM.

What Causes Lightning?

Lightning is a sudden electrostatic discharge that occurs during
a thunderstorm. This discharge occurs between electrically
charged regions of a cloud (called intra-cloud lightning or IC), between
two clouds (CC lightning), or between a clou d and the ground (CG
lightning). The charged regions in the atmosphere temporarily equalize
themselves through this discharge referred to as a strike if it hits an object
on the ground, and a flash, if it occurs within a cloud. Lightning creates
light in the form of black body radiation from the very hot plasma created
by the electron flow, and sound in the form of thunder. Lightning may be
seen and not heard when it occurs at a distance too great for the sound to
carry as far as the light from the strike or flash.