Storms
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Cloud Lightning

Lightning bolt kills 14 cattle in Ghana


Starr FM Online
Fri, 24 Jun 2016 14:47 UTC
The dead cattle
The dead cattle
About 14 cattle were left dead after lightning struck at Welembelle in the Sissala East District of the Upper West Region Thursday.

A native and teacher in the community, Jonas, told StarrFMonline.com the incident happened at about 10:30pm. He said they saw the lifeless bodies of the animals after the downpour.

"We were there this morning and one caretaker of the cattle, a Fulani, came to inform us that some of the cattle are dead, so we rushed to the place and met exactly what the caretaker had said.

"Usually, when things of such nature occur certain rituals are performed before anyone touches it for fear of being struck by lightning, so the rituals were performed after which the cattle were buried," Jonas narrated.

He added that residents of the community have been shocked at the huge number of the dead cattle, as a minimal number is often killed under such circumstances.

Owner of the cattle, Samba is reportedly traumatized at his loss.
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Cloud Lightning

Lightning bolt kills one and injures two in Daytona Beach, Florida

Caitlin Doornbos
Orlando Sentinel
Sat, 25 Jun 2016 14:21 UTC
Lightning
A 33-year-old woman is dead after lightning struck her on the shore of Daytona Beach Shores Friday, officials said.

The unidentified woman was standing in ankle-deep water with a man shortly before 5 p.m. when "a bolt of lightning came out of nowhere," Volusia County Beach Safety Capt. Tamra Marris said.

The woman was taken for medical treatment, but died just before midnight, Marris said. The man's condition has not been released.

A third victim - a 55-year-old Daytona Beach woman - was also struck by the same bolt. She is OK and "was able to walk away and seek medical attention elsewhere," Marris said

Marris said storms had been brewing near the beach but when the lightning bolt struck, storms were off in the distance.

Officials are not naming or releasing further information about the victims until they can notify all family members.
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Cloud Lightning

700 mile wide storm over the Midwest produces more than 1 million lightning events in 18 hours

Kori Rumore and Jonathon Berlin
Chicago Tribune
Fri, 24 Jun 2016 19:22 UTC
Wednesday night's storm stretched 700 miles across the Midwest and produced more than 1 million lightning strokes and flashes.
Wednesday night's storm stretched 700 miles across the Midwest and produced more than 1 million lightning strokes and flashes.
Wednesday night's storm, which stretched more than 700 miles from eastern Iowa to northern Virginia, produced more than 1 million lightning events over 18 hours -- more than 236,000 of them occurring in Illinois and over Lake Michigan, and is blamed for a house fire in Evanston.

Since 1989, every stroke and flash of lightning that happens in the continental U.S. has been recorded in real time by the Vaisala-owned National Lightning Detection Network, based in Tucson, Ariz., which monitors lightning activity 24 hours a day, 365 days a year. This includes the time, location and polarity of cloud-to-ground lightning and cloud pulses, which can stay in a cloud or be connected to cloud-to-ground lightning.

Vaisala estimates the Chicago area had 12-20 flashes of lightning per square mile each year from 2005-14. During the same time period, Illinois had the eighth-highest cloud-to-ground lightning flash density among U.S. states at 14.2 per square mile. Florida had the most -- 21 per square mile.
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Cloud Lightning

Massive lightning strikes filmed in India

NEWS@9
You Tube
Wed, 22 Jun 2016 13:23 UTC
Lightning strike
This deadly lightning has killed at least 67 people in India over the past two days, according to disaster management officials, as the annual monsoon rains sweep the country.

Lightning strikes are relatively common in India during the June-October monsoon, which hit the southern coast earlier this month, but this week's toll is particularly high.

"We have confirmation of 47 deaths and fear the toll may go up as reports are pouring in from other districts," Anirudh Kumar, a senior official at Bihar's disaster management agency, said.

Authorities in the neighbouring state of Uttar Pradesh said 20 people were killed over two days.

Lightning kills thousands of Indians every year, most of them farmers working the fields. More than 2,500 people were killed by lightning in India in 2014, according to the National Crime Records Bureau, the most recent figures available.

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Cloud Lightning

Update: Lightning strikes kill at least 120 in eastern India


Sputnik
Thu, 23 Jun 2016 13:07 UTC
Lightning
© AP/Channi Anand
Repeated lightning strikes have killed as many as 120 farmers in the eastern parts of India forcing workers to demand strong action from the authorities.

The monsoon season and incessant rainfall sweeping several parts of India were accompanied by deadly lightning strikes. Though the exact death toll is yet to be ascertained, at least 120 people, mostly farm-workers, are believed to have been killed and women and children are also among the casualties. Another unspecified number of people were injured.

"Lightning strikes are common during monsoons, but there have been more strikes than usual this year," said Vyas Ji, a senior government official in Bihar, where the most number of deaths occurred. Several others were killed in other states like Uttar Pradesh, Jharkhand and Madhya Pradesh.

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Tornado2

Rare powerful tornado strikes eastern China; at least 98 reportedly dead


BBC
Fri, 24 Jun 2016 05:00 UTC
Tornado damage in China
© AFPThe winds were powerful enough to pick up vehicles

A tornado and hailstorm have killed at least 98 people and injured nearly 800 in the east Chinese province of Jiangsu, according to state media.

Accompanied by torrential rain, the tornado struck the outskirts of the city of Yancheng on Thursday afternoon.

Counties on the city's outskirts saw winds of up to 125km/h (78 mph).

The search for survivors in debris has now been completed with a clean-up under way, the head of the provincial fire corps told state media.

President Xi Jinping had ordered "all-out rescue efforts" after what the Xinhua news agency said was one of the worst disasters ever to hit Jiangsu.

It was also the worst tornado to hit China in half a century, it said.

On Friday, rescuers were carrying injured villagers into ambulances and delivering food and water to others, said Xinhua.

Heavy rain and the possibility of more hailstorms and tornadoes had further complicated rescue efforts.

More than 1,300 police officers had been mobilised to help, while tent and other emergency supplies were being sent from Beijing.


Comment: Study: Extreme tornado outbreaks are increasing

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Cloud Lightning

Lightning casualties increasing in Bangladesh with 261 deaths this year; on track to beat 265 total of 2015


Shanghai Daily
Thu, 23 Jun 2016 13:29 UTC
Lightning
Bangladesh has seen a near-record number of deaths this year from a phenomenon that appears to be worsening with climate change: lightning strikes.

So far this year, 261 people have died from lightning in the country, putting the South Asian nation on track to beat last year's 265 deaths. Most lightning deaths usually occur during the warm months of March to July.

India has seen a similar surge in lightning deaths, with 93 people killed just in the past two days.

The problem has prompted Bangladesh's government to add lightning strikes to the country's list of official types of disasters, which includes floods, cyclones and storm surges, earthquakes, drought and riverbank erosion, among others.
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Cloud Lightning

Another lightning bolt kills sheep in Kyrgyzstan; 55 struck in second recent incident


eng.24.kg
Wed, 22 Jun 2016 14:44 UTC
Lightning
At least 55 sheep were killed by lightning in Kyrgyzstan. Press service of the Ministry of Emergency Situation reported.

According to it, on June 20 a resident of Almaluu-Bulak, Suzak district, Jalal-Abad region Mederbek Kaamytov drove sheep to Kurobos pasture at about 3.00 a.m.

A lightning stroke into a herd of sheep, killing them, the shepherd has managed to slaughter only 20 of them, so that they would be suitable for consumption.

Comment: See also: 120 sheep killed by lightning bolt in Kyrgyzstan

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Cloud Lightning

Lightning strikes kill at least 93 within 2 days across India


The Daily Star (Lebanon)
Wed, 22 Jun 2016 13:28 UTC
Lightning over the golden temple in Amritsar during storms in April.
© Hindustan Times Lightning over the golden temple in Amritsar during storms in April.
At least 93 people have been struck by lightning and killed in India over the past two days, disaster management officials said Wednesday, as annual monsoon rains swept the country.

Lightning strikes are relatively common in India during the June-October monsoon, which hit the southern coast earlier this month, but this week's toll is particularly high.

Most deaths occurred in the eastern state of Bihar, where an overnight storm killed at least 56 people and injured another 28, mainly in rural areas.

"The death toll has climbed to 56 and 28 are injured. Many of the victims are children and women," Anirudh Kumar, a senior official at Bihar's disaster management agency, told AFP.

Comment: Neighboring Bangladesh has seen a near-record number of deaths this year from lightning strikes, with 261 fatalities already - compared with last year's total of 265 deaths. The surge has even prompted Bangladesh's government to add lightning strikes to the country's list of official types of disasters.

The explanation provided by a physics and astronomy professor in California is indicative of mainstream science.
"Some specialists think that as the world warms up, we should expect more explosive lightning events ... rather than a gradual increase,"
Rather than 'global warming' it is the electrical nature of such phenomena that ought to be addressed. See also:

Electric universe: Lightning strength and frequency increasing

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Cloud Lightning

UK has already experienced more thunderstorms this year than its average for a whole year

Paul Brown
The Guardian
Sun, 19 Jun 2016 13:06 UTC
Lightning strikes a plane coming into land at Heathrow Airport on 27 April 2016.
© REX/Shutterstock Lightning strikes a plane coming into land at Heathrow Airport on 27 April 2016.
A rumble of thunder is always a cue to unplug computers in our district. Everyone remembers when the local power lines got struck by lightning a decade ago and wiped out the innards of most computers, even some that were switched off but still plugged into the mains. New computers are supposed to be fitted with anti-surge devices but anyone ever seriously inconvenienced by a lightning strike is unlikely to take the risk again.

Last week's daily thundery showers meant being unplugged a great deal of the time, which is not a problem with modern computer batteries, but which led to discussions about how often the UK gets this number of thunderstorms. It turns out that by the weekend most of the country had already exceeded the average for a whole year.
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