CLIMATE AND WEATHER

How many volts are in lightning?
A stroke of lightning discharges from 10 to 100 million volts of electricity. An average lightning stroke has 30,000 amperes.

The color of lightning:
Lightning is often seen as white or white-yellow, although it may appear to have other colors depending on the background.

How is hot is lightning?
The temperature of the air around a bolt of lightning is about 54,000°F (30,000°C), which is six times hotter than the surface of the sun.

What is the difference between a cyclone, a hurricane and a tornado:
All three wind phenomena are rotating winds that spiral in toward a low-pressure center as well as upward. Their differences lie in their size, wind velocity, rate of travel, and duration. A cyclone has rotating winds from 10 to 60 miles (16 to 97 kilometers) per hour. Hurricanes (or typhoons) have winds that vary from 75 to 200 miles (120 to 320 kilometers) per hour. Tornadoes can reach a rotating speed of 300 miles (400 kilometers) per hour, travels between 25 to 40 miles (40 to 64 kilometers) per hour.

The wettest place on Earth:
Tutunendo, Colombia, with an average annual rainfall of 463.4 inches (1177 centimeters).

The Driest Place on Earth:
The Atacama Desert is located in northern Chile and reaches a small part of southern Peru (South America), climbing up to 3,200 m (10,670 ft) altitude on an area of 181,300 square km (72,500 square mi). It spreads like a rather narrow stretch between the Pacific Ocean and the Andes mountains over a distance of 960 km (600 mi) off the both sides of the Tropic of Capricorn, presenting strong contrasts: stony hills, volcanic rocks and sand dunes.