Does lightning hit water

Answer 1

In all effect there is little evidence that lightning striking a body of water will create a splash. This is due to there having being very little research on this topic as lightning doesn't often strike over bodies of water mainly due to the fact that bodies of water are usually cooler than land during the warmer summer months that thunderstorms are prevalent. It is for this reason thunderstorms are less likely to develop over water than over land. Another reason why there is little research on water and lightning is that lightning tends to strike the highest point and water is generally the lowest point around. Think of it this way. If you are in a boat conducting lightning research it will be the boat that gets hit and not the water.

Actually, lightning does not travel from the clouds to the ground as many people speculate. It actually is shot off from both sources (the ground and sky) and meet in the middle. Therefore, lightning would not nessecarily make a splash in the water. It might heat it up to boiling point and flash boil it, but there would be no splash. It is just like static electricity. There is no sign of a cut on your finger. Trust me, I study meterological science. :)

I would think, since the resulting thunder is an explosion caused by the rapidly expanding gasses, that there would be some splash, minute perhaps. So not the lightning itself, but the thunder maybe.

When the static discharge travels from the surface to the charged air, the point where it exits is superheated to many hundred degrees F. when this happens the water flash boils and it explodes, which looks like something just "hit" the surface with an object. In many years of sailing i have seen this only twice from a distance when the thunderstorm was over the open ocean. As an edit to the first answer, thunderstorms do form over bodies of water quite often. all you need for a thunderstorm is MIL. Moisture, Instability, Lift. lets see what we have over a body of water that has a mean temp of 70F. Moisture (check) Instability (check) sun heating the surface of the ocean creates warm water vapor) Lift (check) rising water vapor is its own lift mechanism.

Witness

Last night (20/11/08) I stood on a balcony overlooking a beach in Queensland, Australia, approx 50m from shore line, during a massive lightning and thunderstorm. As we were watching the show a bolt hit the water about 10 metres from the edge (60m from us). I can tell you, as can the other 30 people there who saw it that as well as a deafening 'crack' the water at impact exploded (splash) in what appeared to be a shower of light and sparks ... needless to say, the only thing that moved faster than the lightning bolt was the exodus from the balcony. So in direct answer to your question ... yes.

Answer 2

I have no idea, but all I know, don't be swimming at that time!

____________

Why would you answer the question if you had no clue what the answer was?

If lightning strikes the surface of a lake, the lake and its contents become charged as well. It is only for a moment and is not constant. It lasts as long as the lightning strike is and is dissipated through the water, which is an excellent conductor.

Answer 3

Probably not. If you are very close to the strike and your body is aligned radially then the electric potential difference between head and feet might cause a problem.

Answer 4

Yes. Water is a conductor.