The Lightning Cloud

For a longer discussion of lightning within its.
The lightning cloud. Pyrocumulus clouds produce lightning for the same reason that it is produced by cumulonimbus clouds citation needed. It can then stay within the cloud or continue to travel through the open air and eventually to ground. Heat lightning is a lightning flash that appears to produce no discernible thunder because it occurs too far away for the thunder to be heard. A brief description of lightning follows.
Forked lightning is cloud to ground lightning that exhibits branching of its path. Lightning is a giant spark of electricity in the atmosphere between clouds the air or the ground. In the early stages of development air acts as an insulator between the positive and negative charges in the cloud and between the cloud and the ground. Lightning is an electrical discharge caused by imbalances between storm clouds and the ground or within the clouds themselves.
There are roughly 5 to 10 times as many flashes that remain in the cloud as there are flashes which travel to the ground but individual storms may have more or fewer. Most lightning occurs within the clouds.