Awesome Lightning Show as Chilean Volcano Erupts

June 12, 2008

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.