Source- Freepik
Green lightning is like a dazzling surprise from nature, turning the sky into colorful display. It reminds us of the beauty and wonder of the green world. It’s like nature’s own light show, captivating, mysterious, and eye-catchy. But have you ever thought, why does it happen, how does it happen and what does it happen?
Join us to uncover this secret. Get ready for an electrifying experience.
What is Lightning?
Inside a storm cloud, dust, and ice particles rub against each other and become charged. Then the positively and negatively charged grains separate, creating a massive pent-up electrical charge. When the resulting electrical discharge leaps to the ground, a lightning strike occurs.
Lightning is available in a varied spectrum of colors like Red, Yellow, Green, Cyan, Blue, and Violet. It’s almost always white but frequently tinged with a different color around the edges.
Lightning Can Be Classified in Two Major Ways:
- By path
- By Color
By Path contains 3 major types of lightning:
1. Cloud-to-ground(CG) lightning
This is the most common type of lightning. It begins as an invisible channel of electrically charged air moving from a cloud towards the ground. A powerful surge of electricity from the ground moves upward to the clouds and produces an invisible lightning strike.
2. Cloud-to-cloud(CC) lightning
It is a type of lightning that occurs between two or more separate clouds. In other words, we can say it is the discharge between areas of clouds without the discharge channel reaching the ground.
3. Intra-Cloud(IC) lightning
This type of lightning occurs completely inside the cloud, jumping between different charge regions in the clouds. Intra-cloud lightning is also called sheet lightning because it lights up the sky with a ‘sheet’ of light.
What is Green Lightning?
Green lightning is when lightning during a storm appears as a bright green color. In snowstorms, where it is somewhat rare, pink and green are often described as colors of lightning. The most casual and alarming light color is green. Green lightning indicates that a tornado might be on its way.
Green clouds will only occur if the cloud is very deep, which generally occurs in thunderstorm clouds. Those storms produce hail and tornadoes.
Green lightning is not the only one that indicates us about a natural disaster. Different colors show different situations. (They are blue, red, yellow, orange, white, purple, and pink)
What Causes Green Lightning?
The phenomenon of green lightning is still not fully understood, but scientists have some theories regarding it. They are:
“In the initial stages of development, air acts as an insulator between the positive and negative charges in the cloud and between the cloud and the ground; however, when the differences in charges become too great, this insulating capacity in the air breaks down and there is a rapid discharge of electricity. ”
Usually, the color of lightning is white or blue. Haze, dust, moisture, raindrops, and other particles in the atmosphere affect the color by absorbing or diffracting a portion of the white light of lightning and making it green.
Why It Is Green in Color?
“There’s light coming through the thunderstorm and that’s filtering out certain wavelengths, and one of the wavelengths that does make it through is the green colors.
Characteristics of Green Lightning:
Green lightning happens when lightning bolts appear green instead of colors white or blue. Observers often describe green lightning as ethereal and otherworldly, evoking a sense of wonder and fascination.
It is characterized by brilliant light, which follows a narrow, irregular, jagged path through the sky. It is typically seen passing from a cloud to the ground.
Not only green lightning there are multiple other lightnings available as well. You will be surprised to know about them.
- Ball Lightning
- Sprites
- Elves
- Dark lightning
1. Ball Lightning
It is a mysterious and unexplained form of lightning that has confused weather watchers throughout history. It appears as the size of the ball. The size of the ball varies from a golf ball to larger than a football and it tends to hover over the ground.
2. Sprite Lightning
A sprite is a faint, red electrical discharge that occurs high above a thunderstorm. They are incredibly large stretching from the top of a thunderstorm to upwards of 60 miles above the ground. It begins as balls of light and then steams downward.
3. Elves Lightning
Elves are red huge halos that occur high in the atmosphere at around 100 km above active thunderstorms. They can be seen above the clouds in bright daylight.
4. Dark Lightning
According to NASA, dark lightning is a mostly invisible burst of energy inside thunderstorms that fills the sky with gamma rays. It is widely considered as most energetic radiation produced naturally on the earth.
Scientists call this dark lightning, and it is invisible to the human eye. The radiation produced in dark lightning carries a million times as much energy as produced in radiation in visible lightning. The energy dissipates quickly in all directions rather than remaining in the lightning bolt.
Why White Is the Most Powerful Lightning Color?
White is the most dangerous color of the lightning. White lightning is a sign of low humidity or a small amount of moisture in the air. It contains all the wavelengths of the visible spectrum at equal intensity.
In simple terms, electromagnetic radiation of all the frequencies in the visible range of the spectrum, appearing white to the eye is called white lightning. White light carries the phenomenon of “dispersion of light” (splitting of white light into its seven constituent colors violet, indigo, blue, green, yellow, orange, and red).
Different Colors of Lightning and Their Meanings:
Conclusion:
We have always heard that lightning is dangerous, so be careful, be cautious when it occurs. But no one told us how super cool it is, its beauty, its raw power, its causes, and its characteristics. Starting from a brief definition we have covered everything about green lightning. So next time there is a storm, keep your eyes ready, you never know when you might spot a flash of green light.
