NASHVILLE, Tenn. (WKRN) — In Tennessee, lightning and its resonant thunder are familiar occurrences. The Volunteer State experiences lightning strikes nearly daily during the summer, and they remain a common phenomenon throughout the year.
How lightning forms
To grasp why Tennessee is prone to so much lightning, it’s essential to understand its formation. Simply put, lightning is a manifestation of static electricity. Much like how friction between socks and a carpet can spark a shock upon touching a doorknob, friction amidst thunderstorm clouds can generate lightning.
This electrical phenomenon is usually associated with towering cumulonimbus, or thunderstorm clouds. These clouds harbor vigorous updrafts and downdrafts, sometimes exceeding 100 mph. As the updrafts lift water droplets upward and downdrafts push ice particles downward, collisions strip away electrons, resulting in a negatively charged cloud base and a positively charged top.
In the realm of electricity, opposites attract; hence, most lightning activity occurs within the cloud itself, termed as cloud-to-cloud lightning.
However, cloud-to-ground lightning is of significant concern due to its potential to strike on the surface. This happens as the negatively charged cloud base draws positive charges from the ground upwards, where they meet and culminate in a lightning strike.
Lightning typically strikes the tallest objects, like skyscrapers, mountains, and the tallest trees on the tops of hills, because lightning likes to take the shortest path of least resistance. This means the saying that lightning never strikes the same place twice is very wrong. Lightning rods on the tallest skyscrapers get struck dozens of times each year.
Why does Tennessee see so much lightning?
Tennessee sees a lot of lightning because we commonly have the ingredients needed for the massive thunderstorm clouds that produce lightning. The ingredients needed to produce thunderstorms are moisture, instability, and a lifting mechanism.
For most of the United States, instability and lifting mechanisms are abundant. But the parts of the country that see the most lightning are the places that have the highest amounts of moisture in the atmosphere.
All that moisture — humidity — helps fuel the clouds to become big enough to cause enough friction to produce lightning. Tennessee, along with most of the Southeast, has the highest humidity and the most lightning.
Tennessee sees a lot of lightning, but there are parts of the country that see even more. Locations in the eastern plains typically have more lightning strikes each year, and locations along the Gulf typically see the highest amounts of lightning.
According to lightning data from Vaisala, Texas typically sees the highest number of lightning strikes each year, but Florida typically sees the highest density of lightning. Tennessee ranks 11th for lightning density.
Since lightning is so common, it’s important to remember the lightning safety tips. The number one thing to know is if you hear thunder roar, go indoors. Go into a building or car to avoid being struck.
If you can’t go inside a building or a vehicle, you need to get as low as possible and avoid water. Water is a good conductor of electricity, so if you are swimming and hear thunder, it is important to get out of the water.