Sometimes I like to lie on my back on the dock, just to watch the movement of the clouds. The weather is serious when I can see clouds of varying colors moving rapidly, in different directions, at different levels in the sky.I admit to having been caught, more than once, in bad spots. The worst was while canoeing across a broad stretch of water. The calm fell suddenly upon us. We looked back and saw that the storm had sneaked up. Wisps of hair began to lift upward from my wife's shoulders. The same was happening in the other canoeñthe cloud toying as it decided which of us to annihilate. Terrified, we beat it for shore, and were lucky enough to make it.
The power of a lightning bolt is almost incomprehensible. Heating the ionized molecules in its path to a temperature three times hotter than the surface of the sun, the 'bolt' may consist of three or four separate transmissions. The instant application of so much heat to the tiny path of the circuit causes the column of molecules to glow bright white, and makes the lightning visible.
When the path happens to include a tree, the sap along the circuit will 'boil' instantly, causing the tree to explode. The expansion and immediate contraction of the molecules in the path generates a shock wave, quickly dissipated in the sound we know as thunder. Rolling, rumbling thunder accompanies braided lightning, where there are numerous paths for the electrons. The terrifying CRACK! probably comes from a nearby, single-path strike.
After the storm, when you try to work out the logic of lightning strikes, you discover there are no good rules. It is not always the highest point that was hit (though it was always the path of least resistance, given all the conditions of the moment).
When the dreaded clouds approach, and you feel static in the air, find a place of safety. Then you can relax, and contemplate the mystery and power of nature!
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