![vertical lightning bolt inside of circle for mac app vertical lightning bolt inside of circle for mac app](https://media.dcrainmaker.com/images/2022/02/PairingTRANT.png)
Such lightning is usually associated with supercell thunderstorms and trailing stratiform precipitation regions behind squall lines. The less common CG flashes are initiated by a downward-moving, positively-charged stepped leader which is followed by an upward travelling return stroke that lowers the positive charge to earth. Negative CG lightning strikes can be identified by their distinctive downward branching.
![vertical lightning bolt inside of circle for mac app vertical lightning bolt inside of circle for mac app](https://helios-i.mashable.com/imagery/articles/06JMu8F02UBG23j6s4yuOwh/hero-image.fill.size_1248x702.v1623390152.png)
The net effect of this flash is to lower negative charge from the cloud to the ground. The most common CG flashes are initiated by a downward-moving, negatively-charged stepped leader which is followed by an upward travelling return stroke.
![vertical lightning bolt inside of circle for mac app vertical lightning bolt inside of circle for mac app](https://www.macworld.co.uk/cmsdata/features/3606871/guide-to-mac-iphone-ipad-ports-sd.png)
A return stroke (the very bright visible flash that we see as lightning) travels at about 60,000 miles per second back towards the cloud, with one flash consisting of as many as 20 return strokes. When the oppositely-charged leader and streamer connect, a powerful electrical current begins flowing (hence why it is ill-advised to stand under a tall object during a thunderstorm!). As it nears the ground, the negatively charged stepped leader is attracted to a channel of positive charge reaching up, a streamer, normally through something tall, such as a tree, house, or telephone pole. This stepped leader is invisible to the human eye, and travels to the ground in a millisecond. In CG lightning, a channel of negative charge, called a stepped leader, will zigzag downward in a ‘forked’ pattern - hence it is sometimes called forked lightning. It is this, as well as its starting and ending points, and direction of movement, that give rise to different ‘types’ of lightning.Lightning can strike the ground, the air, or inside clouds, but there are roughly 5 to 10 times more cloud flashes than there are cloud-to-ground flashes. It is the polarity of lightning discharge that can affect the way it spreads and branches in space and time. A beautiful and deadly natural phenomenon, lightning is simply a sudden, electrostatic discharge - a ‘spark’ or ‘flash’ as charged regions in the atmosphere temporarily equalise themselves through this discharge.