lightning storms are caused by?

[Emmanuel Mensah]

so......lightning storms are caused by?

 

[andrea k]

What is lightning?
Lightning refers to one of the several forms of visible electrical discharge produced by thunderstorms. It is essentially a giant spark that jumps between vast pools of positive and negative electrical charge that form inside thunderstomrs The primary forms of lightning discharges are cloud-to-ground (CG), cloud-to-cloud (CC), in-cloud (IC) and cloud-to-air (CA). Rare forms also include ball lightning. Lightning appears very bright because it is - its optical output is equivalent to some 100 million light bulbs going on and off.
How hot is lightning?
Some like it hot…and they should just love lightning. The air in the core of a lightning bolt has been estimated to be heated to as much as 54,000°F (30,000°C). That happens to be about six times hotter than the surface of the sun.

 

[Lindsey Hamilton]

Negative and positive Charges interacting in the air.

 

[dilkon2001]

A static electricity build-up.

 

[Arasan]

Lightning storms are caused by the discharge of static electricity between the oppositely charged particles between the cloud and the earth(or between the cloud and air or between clouds or within a cloud).