LIGHTNING & MORE

  Thunderstorms are well known for creating many types of
  weather conditions.  They quickly cause rain, damaging
  hail, sudden temperature changes, strong winds, many
  types of lightning, and tornadoes.  They all have one
  thing in common : a moist, warm, unstable air mass.
  Thunderstorms are created when a parcel of air warms,
  rises, and continues to rise as long as it stays warmer
  that the surrounding air.  This rising column forms a
  thunderstorm 'cell' which has many updrafts and creates a
  full-fledged thundercloud, more correctly called a
  'cumulonimbus' cloud.  This cloud extends several miles
  in the air -- up to about 10 miles.  At that point the
  cloud top encounters the tropopause (a layer of our
  atmosphere), which causes the cloud to flatten out at the
  top and look anvil-shaped.

  Inside this large cloud, the temperature is constantly
  changing, the movement is generally upward in the center,
  and downward around the outside.  This creates large
  circular air masses that are warm at the bottom, and cold
  at the top.  The large circular motion can be very strong
  and is the process that creates hail -- the constant warming
  and freezing cycle creates strong winds. The larger and more
  unstable the cloud, the more cycles the hail has makes; each
  cycle places another layer on the outside of the hailstone,
  thus, the larger the hail.

  Lightning, while exciting to watch, can be very dangerous
  to people, buildings, and rangeland.  A typical lightning
  strike can contain over 1 million volts and 100,000 amps.
  If it hits a power line near the block you live on, you,
  your house, and all electronic equipment will be in danger.
  It can start fires and melts, shatters, and fuses electronic
  equipment.  Turning TV's, computers, and VCR's off is no
  protection.  A spike protector is of NO protection from a
  close lightning strike either.  If you want to protect your
  valuable equipment during a lightning storm, the only way
  to do it is to simply unplug it from the wall.

  Lightning tends to strike the tallest objects in an area.
  Objects such as trees and flagpoles may attract many
  lightning strikes and should be avoided during lightning
  storms. In addition, you may become the highest point in
  a storm if you are walking across flat areas. The best
  idea is to go inside when lightning threatens.

                         -=-