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Have you ever seen a thunderstorm averaging five lightnings per second? I haven't. But I have seen plenty with a couple lightnings per minute - right in the bal

by lrem 5y ago

Have you ever seen a thunderstorm averaging five lightnings per second? I haven't. But I have seen plenty with a couple lightnings per minute - right in the ballpark of the power of a small wind farm beneath.

Digit-Al 5y ago
Back in 2017 there was a superstorm over the UK and France. Here in London the lightning was basically continuous. It was really bizarre because it looked like someone had put stadium lights on so the whole sky was lit up continuously. Apparently there was something in the region of 120,000 lightning strikes over 12 hours, which is 10,000 per hour. That was, of course, spread over a large region, but still... https://metro.co.uk/2017/07/19/londons-epic-thunder-and-lightning-storm-in-pictures-6789782/ https://metro.co.uk/2017/07/19/londons-epic-thunder-and-ligh... https://strangesounds.org/2017/05/120000-lightning-strikes-england-france-superstorm-video.html https://strangesounds.org/2017/05/120000-lightning-strikes-e...
rleigh 5y ago
Yes. I once drove through a storm which lasted well over an hour, with continuous fork and sheet lightning around the entire horizon. An absolutely fantastic sight, never seen such a dramatic spectacle before or since, it was absolutely stunning.
yencabulator 5y ago
New Mexico fall thunderstorms can do one every 2-3 seconds for a minute. And the storm itself will last for hours, even though it calms down a little. Lightning radar apps show a 30 minute window of lightning and can fill up areas of the map with just solid yellow from the overlapping bolt icons.
Someone 5y ago
For the curious: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Catatumbo_lightning https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Catatumbo_lightning: “Catatumbo lightning (Spanish: Relámpago del Catatumbo) is an atmospheric phenomenon that occurs over the mouth of the Catatumbo River where it empties into Lake Maracaibo in Venezuela. It originates from a mass of storm clouds at an altitude of more than 1 km, and occurs during 140 to 160 nights a year, nine hours per day, and from 16 to 40 times per minute” That seems to be the most one gets on earth, but there, it isn’t rare.
acjohnson55 5y ago
I've seen a couple with a bolt every couple seconds. More or less continuous lightning.

by lrem 5y ago

Digit-Al 5y ago

Back in 2017 there was a superstorm over the UK and France. Here in London the lightning was basically continuous. It was really bizarre because it looked like someone had put stadium lights on so the whole sky was lit up continuously. Apparently there was something in the region of 120,000 lightning strikes over 12 hours, which is 10,000 per hour. That was, of course, spread over a large region, but still... https://metro.co.uk/2017/07/19/londons-epic-thunder-and-lightning-storm-in-pictures-6789782/ https://metro.co.uk/2017/07/19/londons-epic-thunder-and-ligh... https://strangesounds.org/2017/05/120000-lightning-strikes-england-france-superstorm-video.html https://strangesounds.org/2017/05/120000-lightning-strikes-e...

rleigh 5y ago

Yes. I once drove through a storm which lasted well over an hour, with continuous fork and sheet lightning around the entire horizon. An absolutely fantastic sight, never seen such a dramatic spectacle before or since, it was absolutely stunning.

yencabulator 5y ago

New Mexico fall thunderstorms can do one every 2-3 seconds for a minute. And the storm itself will last for hours, even though it calms down a little. Lightning radar apps show a 30 minute window of lightning and can fill up areas of the map with just solid yellow from the overlapping bolt icons.

Someone 5y ago

For the curious: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Catatumbo_lightning https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Catatumbo_lightning: “Catatumbo lightning (Spanish: Relámpago del Catatumbo) is an atmospheric phenomenon that occurs over the mouth of the Catatumbo River where it empties into Lake Maracaibo in Venezuela. It originates from a mass of storm clouds at an altitude of more than 1 km, and occurs during 140 to 160 nights a year, nine hours per day, and from 16 to 40 times per minute” That seems to be the most one gets on earth, but there, it isn’t rare.

acjohnson55 5y ago

I've seen a couple with a bolt every couple seconds. More or less continuous lightning.