I don't know about you, but lightning fascinates me. I sit there in wonderment. The majesty, power and sheer grandeur of it all.
'The heavens declare the glory of God, and the sky above proclaims his handiwork' Psalm 19:1.
I love unique weather 'moments'. Moments where, some event or display of weather make you stop, stand still and take it all in. Moments where time seems to stand still, or quite the opposite where time seems to be going too fast for you to bath in the beauty of it. Lightning is a prime example of such a 'moment'.
Everyday, about 40,000 thunderstorms occur throughout the world, mostly brewing in areas near the equator (that makes sense - humidity and warm air). The formation of lightning is still something of a mystery. It's understood what it is a result of, but exactly HOW it happens is not yet clear.
A lightning flash is brighter than ten million 100-watt lightbulbs, six times hotter than the surface of the sun and contains billions of watts - enough power to provide electricity to a whole country (there abouts).
When a bolt of lightning forms, the air around it is superheated, which causes the air to expand and then contract rapidly. This creates sound waves that we hear as thunder. Despite thunder and lighting occurring at the same time, light waves travel faster than sound waves, thus the light reaches your eyes before the sound reaches your ears!
'How great is God - beyond our understanding!... See how he scatters the lightning about him... His thunder announces the coming storm... At this my heart pounds and leaps from its place' (Job 36:26, 30 & 33 and Job 37:1).
'... Lightning ... White calligraphy on high, silhouettes the hill'
~Joso (1662 - 1704), Japanese poet
Amazing.
No comments:
Post a Comment