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The top of cumulonimbus cloud is generally high, up to 20 kilometers, and there are often ice crystals in the upper part of the cloud. The process of rime attachment of ice crystals, breaking of water droplets and air convection generate charges in clouds. The distribution of charges in the cloud is complex, but in general, the upper part of the cloud is dominated by positive charges and the lower part is dominated by negative charges. Therefore, there is a potential difference between the upper and lower parts of the cloud. When the potential difference reaches a certain degree, discharge will occur, which is our common lightning phenomenon.
The average current of lightning is 30000 amperes, and the maximum current can reach 300000 amperes. The voltage of lightning is very high, about 100million to 1billion volts. The power of a moderate thunderstorm can reach 10million watts, which is equivalent to the output power of a small nuclear power plant. During the discharge process, due to the sudden increase of temperature in the lightning channel, the air volume expands rapidly, resulting in shock wave and strong thunder.
When the charged thunderclouds approach the protrusions on the ground, a fierce discharge occurs between them. There will be strong flash and explosion roar at the lightning discharge site. Lightning and thunder that people see and hear is a natural phenomenon in the atmosphere.