ORIGINAL: aussiesteve
Does lightning strike from the sky down, or the ground up?
The answer is both. Cloud-to-ground lightning comes from the sky down, but the part you see comes from the ground up. A typical cloud-to-ground flash lowers a path of negative electricity (that we cannot see) towards the ground in a series of spurts. Objects on the ground generally have a positive charge. Since opposites attract,
an upward streamer is sent out from the object about to be struck. When these two paths meet, a return stroke zips back up to the sky. It is the return stroke that produces the visible flash, but it all happens so fast - in about one-millionth of a second - so the human eye doesn't see the actual formation of the stroke.
From [link]http://www.nssl.noaa.gov/faq/faq_ltg.php[/link]
Now where's the popcorn - It's all your fault John
an upward streamer is sent out from the object about to be struck
I have read advice that if you happen to be in an open area where there is lightning activity nearby, and, you feel a tingling sensation in your body and your hair rises up (like what you may have seen with people who demonstrate effect of static electricity on the human body), this upward (I think it's downward) streamer is what you are feeling, and means YOU are the object about to be struck. You are advised to ASAP throw yourself to the ground as flat as possible or roll your body into a ball on the ground. The hope is that you now make yourself a less "attractive" target and the lightning strikes something else.
Read more:
www.comportone.com/cpo/weather/lightng.htm