FREQUENT SHEET LIGHTNING

Press, Volume LII, Issue 9299, 27 December 1895, Page 2

FREQUENT SHEET LIGHTNING

An interesting paper was read at a recent meeting of the Scottish Meteorological Society by Professor Michie Smith, on the thunderstorms of Madras. Almost every night j-pheet-Mghtning cpuld be seen qij, the horizon, and he attributed this not to the reflection from distant flashes, aa was commonly and erroneously supposed, but to the meeting of land winds and sea winds. The first would be heavily charged with dust, whilst the latter would be free from impurity. He had frequently noticed thet when sheetlightning occurred the clouds were double* and he suggested that these two columns of sea and land clouds might be negative and positive to one another, and thus discharge is brought about between them. The succession of flashes was sometimes so frequent that three hundred could be counted in a minute, and this would go on for as long as an hour and a half. The Indian government had decided to build an observatory at a height of 7700 feet; and although this station was primarily intended for the study of solar physics, a certain amount of meteorological work ' would be done. Associated AV,jth this observatory would be another building 7000 feet below it, and at a distance of three or four miles. The above explanation will be interesting to people in Ghristchurch, when during the summer months sheet-lightning is to be observed on many fine nights with very frequent flashes.