Awesome Lightning Show as Chilean Volcano Erupts

This was the sight when Chile’s Chaitén volcano erupted at the beginning of May this year. The breathtaking scene is reminiscent of a hollywood FX blockbuster. Its called a “dirty thunderstorm“.

The little-understood storms may be sparked when rock fragments, ash, and ice particles in the plume collide to produce static charges—just as ice particles collide to create charge in regular thunderstorms.