You’ve seen it, you’ve heard it, but have you ever smelled it? As bizarre as it sounds, lightning has a distinct odor. But unlike its blinding flash or deafening roar, the scent of a lightning bolt is much more subtle. In fact, you’ve probably experienced it before.
Whenever lightning strikes, it heats the air to 50,000 degrees! The rapid expansion of the air produces a sonic boom that you hear as thunder. However, at the molecular scale, chemical changes can alter the atmosphere on a highly local level and leave behind an aroma.
The air is 78 percent nitrogen and barely 20 percent oxygen. Neither nitrogen nor oxygen typically exists in its elemental form in the atmosphere. Instead, two of each pair up as N2or O2. When the lightning heats the air, it splits the bonds between them — and that’s when random Ns or Os can start hopping around.
Most of the atoms pair back up once the air cools. But some reshuffle. Some of the O atoms combine with O2, producing O3: ozone. It’s unusual to get large concentrations of ozone at the surface, and it has a distinct scent. It is noticeable right after a lightning strike.
Ryan Long, 20, experienced this himself in Oxford, Ala., in June. “I was at work in an old building atop a hill in the cemetery,” Long said. “Suddenly there was a blinding white spark of light,” he recalled. Lightning struck just yards away.
“It sent static up my arm,” he said. “It smelled like something inorganic burning, like wires or plastic.” Others have compared the odor to chlorine, cleaning supplies or, unsurprisingly, electrical sparks.
Odds are, you’ve smelled lightning-produced ozone before. You know that clean, crisp smell ahead of a springtime rain? That’s it. Even if there’s barely any lightning, there are still trace amounts of lightning-produced ozone and nitrogen dioxide in the air scattered about the storm. When the gust front of a storm carries it out ahead of the rain, you can smell it before it’s “scavenged” to the ground.
The human nose can detect ozone concentrations as little as 10 parts per billion. That’s the equivalent of three teaspoons of water in an Olympic-size swimming pool. You may smell it when doing laundry, too. Those little static sparks between clothes coming out of your drier act as miniature lightning bolts, producing just enough ozone for you to get a whiff.
Next time you’re in a thunderstorm, take a big ol’ deep breath. You may just be smelling lightning.
FAQs
Even if there's barely any lightning, there are still trace amounts of lightning-produced ozone and nitrogen dioxide in the air scattered about the storm. When the gust front of a storm carries it out ahead of the rain, you can smell it before it's “scavenged” to the ground.
Why does lightning smell? ›
Whenever lightning heats up the environment it can disassemble the O2. Whenever the oxygen atoms re-assemble they can form O3 known as Ozone. This ozone creates the distinct smell many have become familiar with.
What is the scent of lightning? ›
The smell is probably ozone, which typically has a sweet, pungent aroma. In stormy weather, lightning splits atmospheric nitrogen and oxygen molecules. These can then combine into nitric oxide, which, with further reactions, forms ozone.
What does it smell like when a storm is coming? ›
Scientists say it's a combination of ozone, petrichor and geosmin. Before it rains, a person might say that they can smell the storm coming. Their nostrils might be picking up the scent of ozone, or O3.
Is there a smell to lightning? ›
Lightning itself has no odor. Odor is produced by the ionization of particles around the lightning bolt and also by the burning of objects subjected to the bolt itself or the resultant heat. Thus, the particular odor varies according to the environmental conditions and exposures at the strike sight.
What is the smell called after a thunderstorm? ›
Petrichor is the smell of rain. The word comes from the Greek words 'petra', meaning stone, and 'ichor', which in Greek mythology refers to the golden fluid that flows in the veins of the immortals.
What is the sweet smell during a thunderstorm? ›
What is that smell when it starts to rain, and do you like it? From Accuweather, it's a combination of ozone, petrichor and geosmin. Ozone, which has been described as sweet and pungent-smelling, is brought down by a storm's downdrafts from higher altitudes to nose level.
Why does it smell good after a thunderstorm? ›
The first, the “clean” smell, in particular after a heavy thunderstorm, is caused by ozone.
What color is pure lightning? ›
Electricity by itself is actually not visible. Why is colour of thunder blue? Though a lightning bolt radiates pure white light, various atmospheric conditions can tint the brilliant flash into a rainbow of electrical colors.
What does wild thunderstorm smell like? ›
Thunderstorm smells like the crisp, invigorating scent of a thunderstorm just after it's passed, with notes of fresh rain, green leaf, and oakmoss.
This smell comes from anaerobic bacteria in low-flowing waters. Some bacteria produce hydrogen sulfide gas, which has a strong rotten egg smell. The energy from a hurricane's powerful force of water stirs up sediments in what are typically still waters, releasing this distinct hurricane odor.
Can dogs tell if it's going to rain? ›
Sometimes, your pet will know that a storm is coming before you do! They are very sensitive to barometric pressure changes and they can “feel” the storm before they can see or hear it. Their intense ability to smell enables them to detect rain and an approaching storm, as well.
What does a tornado smell like? ›
Tornadoes' Terrible Sulphur Scent
It could be from broken natural gas or sewage lines, but no one knows for sure. In addition to sulfur, others report the smell of fresh-cut grass during a tornado, likely as a result of tornado debris tearing tree limbs and leaves, and of the storm itself uprooting trees and turf.
What is the smell of lightning called? ›
The most common time people may come into contact with a whiff of ozone is when a storm is approaching. Lightning is essentially a massive plasma that creates ozone as it conducts through the air, with the smell often arriving before the storm hits.
Can you smell lightning coming? ›
Lightning Warning Signs: If you are caught in a storm, pay attention to how you feel. If your skin beings to tingle, you hair stands on end, you smell an acrid odor in the air, or you get a metallic taste in your mouth, you might be about to experience a lightning strike.
What do you smell before you get struck by lightning? ›
If you feel a tingling sensation, your hair stands on end or you smell sulfur, lightning may be about to strike. Immediately crouch down and cover your ears.
Why does electricity have a scent? ›
“In an instance of a failure on a switch board, for example, and there's a flash of electricity, gasses are created from the charged air including ozone.” It's the same ozone gas that makes up the lower layer of the earth's atmosphere and is often described as having a clean, chlorine-like, but burnt, smell.
What is the smell coming from electric fire? ›
Burning Plastic: The acrid odor of an electrical fire is often described as that of burning plastic. This is because wiring insulation, connectors, and other electrical components are plastic. Electrical fires often start behind walls, so you'll sometimes start to smell rather than see one.
What is that electrical smell? ›
While there are many causes, electrical fires can smell like “burning plastic” or “burning rubber” as the plastic insulation surrounding copper wires inside the walls starts to heat and melt, releasing strong unpleasant chemical odors. If the electrical fire progresses, you may begin to smell wood burning as well.
What is the metallic smell during a thunderstorm? ›
Lightning also has a smell associated with it. The electrical breakdown of air helps ozone to form, and this has a distinctive metallic smell. Ozone is a molecule made up of three oxygen atoms (normal oxygen molecules only have two oxygen atoms), and it's very reactive so it doesn't last long.
