Cloud-to-Air- Referring to a discharge (or a portion of a discharge) jumping from a cloud into clear air. Technically speaking, all cloud-to-ground lightning strikes contain 'cloud-to-air' components in the many branches that extend away from the main channel and terminate abruptly in mid-air. However, the most visually dramatic examples of cloud-to-air lightning occur when a long, bright lightning channel jumps out of the side of a cumulonimbus cloud and terminates in the clear air surrounding the storm (see photo at right).