How do clouds generate enough electricity for lightning? What is the average voltage and amperage for lightning?
It is impossible to recreate a cloud in a laboratory environment for closer study, but for many years individuals have flown instrumented planes, weather balloons, or even used rocket-triggered devices to study electrified clouds. In general, it is postulated that as ice crystals and dust particles are blown about within a cloud, they “rub” together causing electrified ions to form. These ions then separate & accumulate within different sections, until they reach a point of imbalance that causes them to overcome an excellent insulator (air) and seek an oppositely charged item to neutralize the electrical imbalance. This item may be another part of a cloud front or a ground-mounted object. Instrumented strikes to ground find that there are many differing levels of lightning strikes. There have been reports of strikes in the range of 100,000 amps at 1,000,000 volts, but a more average type figure is around 30,000 amps at a few hundred thousand volts.
