Dry Thunderstorms In Southern California Produce 66,000 Lightning Strikes In One Night

[hatrack]

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California just experienced one of its most extreme lightning outbursts in years. More than 66,000 lightning strikes lit up the skies across Southern California between Wednesday and Thursday morning, a rare barrage of thunderstorm activity in a state that’s facing its most extreme drought in 1,200 years. Multiple media outlets reported that at least one woman and her dogs in Southern California were fatally struck. Some small fires, thought to be sparked by the lightning, were also detected. The event comes during lightning awareness week in the United States. An average 25 Americans have been killed by lighting annually over the past 10 years.

Some of the lightning was triggered by “dry thunderstorms,” which produce pinpoint bolts of electricity but very little rainfall. Dry air at the low levels means much of the rain evaporates before hitting the ground, allowing some channels of electricity to potentially ignite new wildfires without any water to extinguish the flames.

Additional dry thunderstorms are possible in the days ahead, blossoming on the nose of monsoonal moisture working throughout the desert southwest. The same humid air mass is wafting north and bringing torrential downpours to the ordinarily arid landscapes of New Mexico, Arizona, the Great Basin of Nevada and Southern California.

“This is one of the top 5-6 events since 2015,” Chris Vagasky, a lightning solutions manager and meteorologist with Vaisala Group, said in an email. “Most of the ‘big’ California days are around 20-30k lightning events.”

EDIT

https://www.washingtonpost.com/climate-environment/2022/06/23/lightning-california-strikes-thunderstorm/

[Lovie777]

1. Really?......

I ran outside hoping for rain.

[msongs]

2. meanwhile NM is getting loads of wet thunderstorms nt

[pansypoo53219]

3. eons ago cable had nasa tv from space shuttle + i liked watching lightning from space.