Does lightning strike from the sky down, or the ground up? The answer is both. Cloud-to-ground (CG) lightning comes from the sky down, but the part you see comes from the ground up. A typical cloud-to-ground flash lowers a path of negative electricity (that we cannot see) towards the ground in a series of spurts.

Do most lightning strikes hit the ground?

Does lightning always strike the ground? No, lightning does not always strike the ground. In reality, there are three main kinds of lightning in nature, which are distinguishable on the basis of where they occur. The lightning on the ground is seen in the case of cloud to ground lightning.

Why does lightning start from the ground up?

Objects on the ground generally have a positive charge. Since opposites attract, an upward streamer is sent out from the object about to be struck. When these two paths meet, a return stroke zips back up to the sky.