What is Lightning?
:''For the [[National Hockey League|NHL]] team, see [[Tampa Bay Lightning]]'' :''For the [[World War II]] fighter, see [[P-38 Lightning]]'' :{{Distinguish|Lighting|Thunder}} [[File:Lightning in Arlington.jpg|thumb|right|258px|Lightning over [[Virginia]]]] '''Lightning''' is a very powerful [[electricity|electrical]] discharge made during a [[storm|thunderstorm]]. The electric current makes the air very hot. The suddenly heated air expands very quickly, which causes [[thunder]]. Sometimes lightning happens between [[cloud]]s. Sometimes (in the [[rain]]) lightning goes from cloud to ground. If it goes from cloud to ground, it can strike a person. Around 2000 people are struck by lightning each year. A few of them are not killed. About 50 to 100 lightning bolts strike the Earth every second.<ref name=w/><ref name=brit/> Lightning has hit the [[Empire State Building]] as many as 500 times a year. A bolt of lightning can reach temperatures hotter than the surface of the sun.<ref>{{Cite web|last=US Department of Commerce|first=NOAA|title=How Hot Is Lightning?|url=https://www.weather.gov/safety/lightning-temperature|access-date=2024-09-08|website=www.weather.gov|language=EN-US}}</ref><!-- UNRELIABLE SOURCE <ref>http://www.flixya.com/blog/MysticBren/0/nature,environment,lightning,weather,meteorlolgy</ref> --> [[Image:Lightning striking the Eiffel Tower - NOAA edit.jpg|thumb|alt=Lightning strikes the [[Eiffel Tower]], [[France]] in 1902.|Lightning usually hits the tallest structure.]] When lightning strikes, the surface rubs [[electron]]s from the lightning, and a spark of electricity shoots from the lightning to the surface. In a thunderstorm, the lower cloud has as many as 100 million volts of electricity.<ref name=w/> This electricity is given out either within the cloud, to the ground, to another cloud, or into the air. Lightning has been known to travel from the ground upwards to the cloud. In 1993, scientists discovered lightning bolts that shot upward from the top of a cumulonimbus [[cloud]].<ref name=w/> Peo