<p>While watching lightning activity in the sky from afar, a natural curiosity welled within me. What are the exact locations where those lightning bolts strike?</p>

<p>All these questions appear because of my ignorance of this natural phenomenon. I hope any lightning experts out there can help me understand, what exactly makes a spot a possible candidate for the lightning to strike? Has a list all past lightning-struck locations been compiled?</p>

CC BY-SA 3.0
2016-01-23T14:18:23.470Z
Please check the answers in: http://earthscience.stackexchange.com/questions/580/why-does-lightning-strike-from-the-ground-up
arkaia
CC BY-SA 3.0
2017-06-16T10:46:49.970Z
I believe https://what-if.xkcd.com/16/ had some absolutely fantastic explanation and science.  I can't absolutely vouch for every bit of it, as it wasn't a particularly subfield of study, but all of it looks very reasonable from this degreed-meteorologist's perspective.
JeopardyTempest
<lightning>
Where does lightning strike?
quest326
# Where does lightning strike?

(Asked by: username_0 on 2016-01-23)

While watching lightning activity in the sky from afar, a natural curiosity welled within me. What are the exact locations where those lightning bolts strike?

All these questions appear because of my ignorance of this natural phenomenon. I hope any lightning experts out there can help me understand, what exactly makes a spot a possible candidate for the lightning to strike? Has a list all past lightning-struck locations been compiled?

**Tags:** lightning

> **Comments:**
> **username_1**: Please check the answers in: http://earthscience.stackexchange.com/questions/580/why-does-lightning-strike-from-the-ground-up  
> **username_2**: I believe https://what-if.xkcd.com/16/ had some absolutely fantastic explanation and science.  I can't absolutely vouch for every bit of it, as it wasn't a particularly subfield of study, but all of it looks very reasonable from this degreed-meteorologist's perspective.  

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