Recombination peculiarities of a large plasma volume in a gaseous atmosphere are described. It is shown that the recombination of the plasma of a single-atom ions in a single-atom atmosphere always comes to its completion. Recombination of the plasma of two- or multiatomic ions in a two- or multiatomic gas can not be completed without a phase transition of the first kind. In this case, a metastable state of the plasma cloud appears. The plasma model of ball lightning is considered as an example. The interpretation of the observed behavior of ball lightning is presented.