We had a pretty nasty storm here in Northern Virginia last evening: hail, high wind, blinding rain, thunder, and plenty of lightning. While my daughters are not big fans of noisy storms, I love them. I’m one of those dopey people who gets close to the window to watch nature’s light show. This morning, I visited Doug Thompson’s Blue Ridge Muse blog (I guarantee that five minutes at Doug’s blog will make you want to visit this area of the United States) and he had a fantastic picture of the storm as it hit the southern part of Virginia.
It got me wondering about a very elementary question: why does lightning travel in a jagged line rather than a direct line to the ground? I had an idea, but wanted to check it out. A google search took me to a webpage produced by WV Lightning. Using a simple experiment that would work great for teaching children, the explanation is that the bolt takes the path of least resistance to its destination.
The lightning knows where it needs to go. It doesn’t struggle through the small stuff in its way. It doesn’t complain about the twists and turns it needs to take as it moves. It understands its environment completely and works with it. The path to the ground may be irregular and uneven and yet it finds a way to its goal.
Thanks for the link to that photo site - simply beautiful them blue ridge mtns!!! It's the next thing to actually being out that way and the NC part of it has a special place in my heart!
Thanks again Christopher! I should note that although my blog has been somewhat sporatic this past month - i've made several posts in the last week - feel free to stop by!
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