Hi, in regards to using transformers to capture the static currents of a lightning strike,it seems quite apparent to myself that Nature already does this by a sequence of step-up and /or step-down series of transformations.
If a strike(be it from cloud to earth,or earth to cloud)is carefully observed, (and it is very easily noyiced anyway)the zig-zag path that the strike takes reveals itself to the observer that it is actually proceeding up or down in a series of Steps,i.e. not directly. It seems to hesitate untill its feeders from that point regenerate or collect some more stray current so that it can proceed on it merry way to or from Earth.
This is just one of my crazy thoughts that I thought might interest someone. Criticol
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I get the impression that you don't actually know what a transformer is, but nevermind. When you see a lightning bolt "moving" up or down through the air, what you are seeing isn't the actual behavior of the electrical current. The electricity actually moves at nearly the speed of light. But you can't see the electricity, it's invisible; what you see is plasma. The electricity heats the air and water vapor as it passes through it. When the air gets hot enough, it turns into glowing plasma. By the time the plasma starts to glow the electicity has already been passing through the air for a little while. How long this takes depends on various factors, especially the conductivity or resistance of the air. This varies a great deal from spot to spot and often depends on the amount of water vapor in the air. The water vapor often varies with altitude. As a result, the resistance varies with altitude. This causes the air to reach plasma temperatures a different altitudes at different time. This causes the bolt to appear to "grow" upward or downward or possibly both at the same time.