1. Everybody Talks About the Weather... Interesting Weather Facts

2. Lightning

3. What Causes Lightning? Lightning is caused by nature’s need to balance positive and negative electrical charges in two regions Lightning carries both the negative charge out and the positive charge back

4. Awesome Facts 2,000 thunderstorms are taking place somewhere in the world at this moment Lightning strikes the earth 100 times each second Lightning heats the air to more than 40,000 Lightning travels at a speed of 80,000 miles per second

5. Don’t Stand Under a Tree Oaks are the most dangerous trees in the forest during a thunderstorm –45 to 60 times more likely to be struck –high moisture content attracts lightning Beeches are the safest trees in the forest

6. Struck by Lightning Only 20% of persons stuck by lightning die But 70% of those struck by lightning suffer serious long-term effects, including: Memory loss Sleep disturbance Attention deficit Fatigue Dizziness Numbness Irritability Depression

7. Weird Science The sudden intense heat from lightning can literally blow the clothes off a person A soldier was sealed into his sleeping bag when lightning struck and welded the zipper Alternate plates in a stack of 12 were shattered when a house in Iowa was struck A bolt of lightning that struck a windowpane created an almost perfectly circular 2-inch hole