© Icelandic Meteorological Office
Austurfrétt reports that these lightning strikes were especially prominent in the east, with a greater concentration in the southeast. The site of the Icelandic Met Office shows an incredible concentration of thunder and lightning in the early morning hours of Tuesday in particular.
In all, there were a whopping 1,818 lightning strikes in just the 24 hours following early Tuesday morning. This marks the greatest recorded number of strikes since measurements of them began in earnest in 1998.
The strikes occurring in the east is telling. While thunder and lightning require cold air meeting warm air to happen, unusually high temperatures have covered the country this summer, and the east is traditionally the warmest in the summer.
Lightning in Iceland is not as uncommon as people think. In recent years especially, stormy weather with warm temperatures therefore created conditions ripe for lightning.
Numerous recordings of lightning strikes in Iceland have accumulated over the years, capturing strikes both on the mainland and the Westman Islands, and on one occasion at least, lightning striking an airplane was also captured on video.
Comment: There has been a sharp rise in deaths by lightning strikes across Bangladesh recently, with at least 126 people killed in May and June.
In March this year an anomalous lightning storm hit Southern California producing more than 1,200 bursts in five minutes. In December 2018 the sky over New York City lit up with mysterious blue light.
Could the base level electric charge in the atmosphere be changing? See also:
- Changing atmosphere: Red sprites and a blue jet seen above Europe's stormy skies
- Electric universe: Lightning strength and frequency increasing
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