4 ms·

It's never occurred to me that there are places that don't get lightning storms. I'm guessing that also means you've never had the joy of getting your garden or

It's never occurred to me that there are places that don't get lightning storms. I'm guessing that also means you've never had the joy of getting your garden or car paint ruined by hail?

dontbenebby 4y ago
>don't get lightning storms Wait are you calling a swarm of them a "lightning storm"? I thought pretty much everyplace gets lightning[1] [1] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Distribution_of_lightning https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Distribution_of_lightning
- Tagbert 4y ago
  Lightning happens all over but it is relatively rare on the US west coast, particularly in the Pacific Northwest. We had an actual thunderstorm in the fall of 2019 and everyone was talking about it for a couple of days after, it was so noteworthy.
  - smcl 4y ago
    I think dontbenebby is asking whether the person was using "lightning storm" in the commentt to refer to: - a swarm of fireflies (aka "lightning bugs") - a storm with thunder and lightning
    - lotsofpulp 4y ago
      Both are not normal in the Pacific Northwest.
    - irrational 4y ago
      I literally had no idea a swarm of fireflies is called a lightning storm. I also didn’t know they are called lightning bugs. TIL
      - smcl 4y ago
        That's the thing, I don't think a swarm of fireflies is called that. But I think that's what the question was asking :)
  - evan_ 4y ago
    The last time we saw lightning in the Willamette Valley of Oregon there were multiple posts on the local reddit asking what the flashing light in the sky was. People thought it might be a gas explosion or aircraft.
    - dylan604 4y ago
      Wow, that's just mindblowing to me. Do they also point at the sun and ask if it a god in a chariot of fire? Clearly asked in jest, but that's just how strange hearing about people not having the fortune of seeing lightning on a regular basis. (I'm clearly a fan of lightning, and have a collection of photos I've captured as a hobby)
  - dontbenebby 4y ago
    > Lightning happens all over but it is relatively rare on the US west coast, particularly in the Pacific Northwest. We had an actual thunderstorm in the fall of 2019 and everyone was talking about it for a couple of days after, it was so noteworthy. Thanks for this, descriptions like this help a lot more than raw stats, I had to hear a few sources of info say basically this before I grok-d it.
- rngname22 4y ago
  it's like rain. a rain storm. monday sunny skies. tuesday light rain. wednesday it rains all day - we call that a rain storm. thursday a rain storm with lightning? we call that a thunderstorm (or less commonly lightning storm): https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Thunderstorm https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Thunderstorm
  - irrational 4y ago
    Yeah, we never get thunderstorms.
    - symfoniq 4y ago
      Wow. It never occurred to me that this was possible in the US. I've seen lightning three days out of the last five. We have fireflies (or lightning bugs) in the back yard, too. I remember there being a lot more of them when I was a child, though.
      - dontbenebby 4y ago
        >Wow. It never occurred to me that this was possible in the US. I've seen lightning three days out of the last five. Likewise, you learn something new every day :-)
        mark-r 4y ago
        https://xkcd.com/1053/ https://xkcd.com/1053/
      - eightysixfour 4y ago
        It was a very weird experience moving to the West Coast. One day there was some thunder off in the distance and I realized I hadn’t heard it in 6-7 months. Didn’t even know I was missing it.
- jeffbee 4y ago
  There is almost never lightning in coastal northern California.
  - whimsicalism 4y ago
    It makes me sad, having moved from DC where we had glorious thunderstorms.
irrational 4y ago
We get hail, but it has never been bigger than about 1/8 inch. Our climate just doesn’t have the right conditions to form lightning. Hail, sleet, snow, rain all still work properly.

It's never occurred to me that there are places that don't get lightning storms. I'm guessing that also means you've never had the joy of getting your garden or car paint ruined by hail?

dontbenebby 4y ago

>don't get lightning storms Wait are you calling a swarm of them a "lightning storm"? I thought pretty much everyplace gets lightning[1] [1] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Distribution_of_lightning https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Distribution_of_lightning

Tagbert 4y ago
Lightning happens all over but it is relatively rare on the US west coast, particularly in the Pacific Northwest. We had an actual thunderstorm in the fall of 2019 and everyone was talking about it for a couple of days after, it was so noteworthy.
- smcl 4y ago
  I think dontbenebby is asking whether the person was using "lightning storm" in the commentt to refer to: - a swarm of fireflies (aka "lightning bugs") - a storm with thunder and lightning
  - lotsofpulp 4y ago
    Both are not normal in the Pacific Northwest.
  - irrational 4y ago
    I literally had no idea a swarm of fireflies is called a lightning storm. I also didn’t know they are called lightning bugs. TIL
    - smcl 4y ago
      That's the thing, I don't think a swarm of fireflies is called that. But I think that's what the question was asking :)
- evan_ 4y ago
  The last time we saw lightning in the Willamette Valley of Oregon there were multiple posts on the local reddit asking what the flashing light in the sky was. People thought it might be a gas explosion or aircraft.
  - dylan604 4y ago
    Wow, that's just mindblowing to me. Do they also point at the sun and ask if it a god in a chariot of fire? Clearly asked in jest, but that's just how strange hearing about people not having the fortune of seeing lightning on a regular basis. (I'm clearly a fan of lightning, and have a collection of photos I've captured as a hobby)
- dontbenebby 4y ago
  > Lightning happens all over but it is relatively rare on the US west coast, particularly in the Pacific Northwest. We had an actual thunderstorm in the fall of 2019 and everyone was talking about it for a couple of days after, it was so noteworthy. Thanks for this, descriptions like this help a lot more than raw stats, I had to hear a few sources of info say basically this before I grok-d it.
rngname22 4y ago
it's like rain. a rain storm. monday sunny skies. tuesday light rain. wednesday it rains all day - we call that a rain storm. thursday a rain storm with lightning? we call that a thunderstorm (or less commonly lightning storm): https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Thunderstorm https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Thunderstorm
- irrational 4y ago
  Yeah, we never get thunderstorms.
  - symfoniq 4y ago
    Wow. It never occurred to me that this was possible in the US. I've seen lightning three days out of the last five. We have fireflies (or lightning bugs) in the back yard, too. I remember there being a lot more of them when I was a child, though.
    - dontbenebby 4y ago
      >Wow. It never occurred to me that this was possible in the US. I've seen lightning three days out of the last five. Likewise, you learn something new every day :-)
      - mark-r 4y ago
        https://xkcd.com/1053/ https://xkcd.com/1053/
    - eightysixfour 4y ago
      It was a very weird experience moving to the West Coast. One day there was some thunder off in the distance and I realized I hadn’t heard it in 6-7 months. Didn’t even know I was missing it.
jeffbee 4y ago
There is almost never lightning in coastal northern California.
- whimsicalism 4y ago
  It makes me sad, having moved from DC where we had glorious thunderstorms.

irrational 4y ago

We get hail, but it has never been bigger than about 1/8 inch. Our climate just doesn’t have the right conditions to form lightning. Hail, sleet, snow, rain all still work properly.