You know how the lawn looks so much greener after a thunderstorm moves through?  The main reason is because of rain.  But why is this?

If you’re someone who periodically fertilizes your lawn, you know that one of the ingredients in fertilizer is usually a nitrate.  Nitrates come from nitrogen and that’s what 78% of our atmosphere is made of.

Nature converts the nitrogen into nitrates giving our lawns, trees, gardens and fields a good shot of fertilizer.  How does this happen?  Well, the quickest way to convert nitrogen into nitrates is through a chemical process involving water and extreme heat.  What better place to get extreme heat, then lightning!  The average temperature of a lighting bolt is 55,000 degrees Fahrenheit!  Compare that to the sun, which is approximately 10,000 degrees Fahrenheit and boy, is that hot!

The lightning bolt heats the air and the raindrops, converting the nitrogen to nitrates and is distributed with the rain as it falls to the ground.  Whoa la…natural fertilizer that will really green up your grass. Of course, that means more mowing, as well. 

Have a great summer!

Meteorologist LeAnn Lombardo