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Re: [TowerTalk] Re: Static, Lightning, and protection

To: Didier Juges <didier@cox.net>
Subject: Re: [TowerTalk] Re: Static, Lightning, and protection
From: Jim Lux <jimlux@earthlink.net>
Date: Mon, 22 Mar 2004 10:04:34 -0800
List-post: <mailto:towertalk@contesting.com>
At 09:22 AM 3/22/2004 -0600, you wrote:
Good point. At higher altitude, the dielectric strength of air is less, so the voltage cannot build up as much before the strike starts, so the clouds cannot build as much energy as they can in Florida.

73,
Didier KO4BB

At 07:41 AM 3/22/2004, you wrote:
From personal experience there is a lot of lightning in CO,
but the intensity is somewhat less since the ground elevation
is at 5,000 ft so the storms have 5,000 ft less elevation to
develop their charge.

probably other factors at work than air density. At 5000 ft, the density is about 90% of that at sea level and, to a first order, breakdown strength goes as density. In both cases, the thunderstorm extends many 10's of thousands of feet up, and the major charge collection is going to be occurring fairly high up.


If I had to pick a single factor, I'd say that Florida is wetter and hotter than Colorado. In eastern Colorado, summer thunderstorms result from instability at the interface between the dry cool air coming down off the Rockies and the moist hot air coming up from the south. In Florida, you have a very flat area, with warm ocean on both sides, etc.



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