It is still the path of least resistance but it created it itself. It ionizes the air creating a channel for it and then makes the leap, creating a conductive conduit of plasma/ions, as air currents move that around the path of least resistance can get progressively more nuts because there’s still a path through the ionized air.
I don’t know too much about HV, but I thought that even the crazy path shown in the picture was still the path of least resistance. Is that wrong?
It is still the path of least resistance but it created it itself. It ionizes the air creating a channel for it and then makes the leap, creating a conductive conduit of plasma/ions, as air currents move that around the path of least resistance can get progressively more nuts because there’s still a path through the ionized air.
It’s a big example of a Jacob’s Ladder (the climbing arc of electricity seen in science labs in movies).
Dielectric breakdown, literally carving its own path of least resistance through the air.
You might not like it, but this is what peak conductivity looks like