
710,117 lightning strikes in western Canada in 15 hours
Typically associated with milder weather, Western Canada is currently suffering a dangerous heatwave, which is being exacerbated by relentless wildfires.
Record temperatures have hit the Pacific Northwest, and with the devastating wildfires increasing in numbers, ninety percent of a small village of about 250 people in British Columbia,
Lytton has been burned to the ground after recording Canada's highest ever temperature of 121 Fahrenheit (49.6 degrees Celsius).
The wildfires have spawned enormous clouds that have swept throughout the area, resulting in
more than 710,000 lightning strikes in one night. These stormy clouds, known as cumulonimbus flammagenitus, form over a source of heat and pump out an intense shower of lightning strikes, potentially fueling the flames even more.
Ok, so now that I've picked my jaw up off the ground...
Yesterday was a terrible #pyroCB #lightning event in #BCwx and into #ABwx. Between 3pm June 30 and 6am July 1 (Pacific Time), the North American Lightning Detection Network detected 710,117 total lightning events. pic.twitter.com/Wj6nMHrcOX
— Chris Vagasky (@COweatherman) July 1, 2021
Comment: View in addition this report from July 1st: Floods hit 27 provinces and regions in China - 7 million affected