Lightning

Lightning is a sudden electrostatic discharge that occurs during an electrical storm. This discharge occurs between electrically charged regions of a cloud (called intra-cloud lightning or IC), between that cloud and another cloud (CC lightning), or between a cloud and the ground (CG lightning). The charged regions in the atmosphere temporarily equalize themselves through this discharge referred to as a strike if it hits an object on the ground, and a flash, if it occurs within a cloud. Lightning causes light in the form of plasma, and sound in the form of thunder. Lightning may be seen and not heard when it occurs at a distance too great for the sound to carry as far as the light from the strike or flash.

While the term "lightning" is often used when referring to electrical discharges produced by several lifeforms, the most famous of which are the Green Hell's Lightning Bolters, and the Bellebees, it is considered incorrect by some atmospheric scientists, although no alternative name has ever been suggested.