Types of Strikes and Types of Lightning

Wild cloud-to-cloud lightning illuminates the night sky. Gary Hershorn/Getty Images

There are several different types of lightning strikes:

Cloud to ground — Negatively charged particles are drawn toward the positive particles on the ground.
Ground to cloud — The same as cloud-to-ground lightning, except the strike is initiated by a usually a tall, earth-bound object rather than the cloud.
Cloud to cloud — Similar mechanics to ground-to-cloud lightning, except the strike travels from one cloud to another

There are several different types of lightning:

Sheet lightning — This is normal lightning that is reflected in the clouds.
Heat lightning — This is normal lightning near the horizon that is reflected by high clouds.
Ball lightning — A phenomenon where lightning forms a slow, moving ball that can burn objects in its path before exploding or burning out.
Red sprite — A red burst of electricity that occurs about 50 miles (80 kilometers) above storm clouds. Shaped like carrot tops, crowns or even jellyfish, they're bright enough to see in daylight.
Blue jet — Occuring early in a thunderstorm, blue jets are bright, blue sprays of electricity that originate in the center of a storm cloud about 25 miles (40 kilometers) above the ground. Sometimes blue jets are observed closer to the ground, and the sprays are shorter. These are called blue starters.
Elves — Discovered in the early 1990s, elves are huge — 185-mile-wide (300-kilometer-wide) — halos of ring-shaped lightning, created in the upper, positively charged portion of the cloud.

In the next section, we'll learn about the purpose of lightning rods.

How Lightning Works