More lightning, greener grass

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1:12
Dry evening, rain returns Sunday
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1:03
Goshen Community Schools celebrates grand opening of new sports...
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1:30
Morning showers and storms move through, but dry for the rest...
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1:47
South Bend Schools CFO finds project exceeded budget
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0:21
Car crashes into St. Joseph Family Medicine building Friday afternoon
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3:19
South Bend Police responding to possible shooting at 700 blocks...
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2:40
Reception is high for local Niles dispensaries
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2:24
Potentially severe storms tonight, patchy rain this weekend
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0:10
Car fire on U.S. 31 Thursday night
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4:16
How the Tri-Way Drive-In stays current while remaining a classic
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2:12
Warm and breezy during the day, Storms overnight
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0:57
Rotary Club of Greater Niles looking for new members
Rain is great for the grass, because just like humans and everything else, grass needs water to function. However, it also needs nutrients like nitrogen for photosynthesis to occur. Grass and plant roots cannot just absorb nitrogen as it is. Instead, the nitrogen atoms need to be broken up. Most commonly, micro-organisms in the ground have to conduct this process, but lightning can do it as well.
Here's how it works! Lightning strikes are so strong that they can break up the nitrogen atoms in the air, and then those nitrogen atoms attach to oxygen atoms. Together, they go through the process of dissolving into rain and turning into nitrates. Those nitrates rain down into the soil and are all ready to be absorbed by the grass roots. This is a quicker process and by the end of a round of lightning storms, the grass will sometimes be noticeably greener.