Lightning is not just confined to Earth

According to Cliff’s records, the spring season in Coeur d’Alene has been the coolest on record. Late last week, we did feel some hints of summer weather as temperatures warmed into the upper 70s and the humidity levels were high. By late Friday, thunderstorms moved into the region and temperatures cooled down once again.

May’s precipitation total in Coeur d’Alene was 3.28 inches, which was above the normal of 2.37 inches. We don’t see much change in the weather pattern for at least the next several weeks as the northwestern U.S. will continue to see a series of storms that are expected to bring more showers and thunderstorms to the region. June’s normal rainfall in Coeur d’Alene is 1.93 inches, so there’s a very good chance that we’ll have another month with above-average precipitation.

During the spring and summer season, our region sees approximately 14 days with thunderstorms, and with more storms expected, 2022’s figure may also be above-average. Although we do get our share of thunder, lightning, hail and even a rare tornado, the severity of these storms does not compare to the ones seen east of the Rockies, especially in the Great Plains and Midwest’s "Tornado Alley."

According to the National Weather Service, there are approximately 100,000 thunderstorms in the U.S. each year. About 10 percent of these storms are considered to be “severe” with very heavy rainfall, large hail and occasional tornadoes. The state that receives the most days with thunderstorms is Florida with as many as 100 to 120 per year. Lakeland, Fla., averages about 100 thunderstorms per year, the highest for any city in the U.S.

During the summer monsoon season in the southwestern portion of the country, thunderstorm activity becomes more widespread. In extreme southeastern Arizona in the Huachuca Mountains, there are an average of 32 thunderstorms in July, which is slightly more than one per day during that month. For an entire year, this region normally reports over 80 thunderstorms. However, this area has been enduring extreme to exceptional drought conditions and the number of thunderstorms expected this year may be lower than normal.

In the Midwest and central and parts of the southern Great Plains, there are about 50-60 thunderstorms each year. The Gulf Coast has 70-80 storms with 30-40 thunderstorms across the northern Great Plains and southern Texas. The Far West and Northeast average from as few as 5 thunderstorms along the coastal areas of the West Coast to 20-30 thunderstorms in the interior locations and Northeast.

Across the globe, there are over 40,000 thunderstorms forming every day. That’s nearly 1,700 per hour. For an entire year, our planet receives approximately 14.6 million thunderstorms. The stormiest place in the world is Lake Victoria located in Uganda, Africa. Lightning and thunder are reported an average of 242 days per year. The Amazon Basin in South America has just over 200 thunderstorms per year.

As we know, thunderstorms will produce lightning. It’s estimated the U.S. receives approximately 25 million lightning strikes every year. Several dozen people are killed by lightning each year and hundreds more are injured. Many survivors of lightning strikes will live with neurological damage to their body that can last for the rest of their life.

Planet Earth is not the only place in the solar system that experiences lightning. Thanks to new data from the Juno spacecraft that arrived in the Jupiter system in July of 2016, the spacecraft’s MWR, the Microwave Radiometer Instrument, detected nearly 400 lightning flashes when it flew around the planet on eight occasions.

According to an article from planetary.org, there are some basic similarities with the formation and mechanics of lightning on Jupiter and Earth. However, there are some noticeable differences as well. For example, most of the lightning strikes on Earth form near the Equator, since this is a region of high thunderstorm activity. In Jupiter’s atmosphere, much of the activity is seen in its northern hemisphere with very little lightning seen along the Equator.

Saturn is another planet that has lightning. This phenomenon was initially detected by the Voyager 1 and discovered that the lightning flashes originated from the planet’s atmosphere. With the Cassini mission that began in late 1997, it was discovered that the lightning flashes would be intermittent, but could also last for months. Saturn’s atmosphere also produced a “Dragon Storm,” which is believed to have been a giant long-lived thunderstorm in the planet’s southern hemisphere that produced widespread lightning discharges.

By using radio waves, scientists believe that lightning has also been observed on Uranus. There’s also the possibility of lightning events on Venus and Neptune, but more data is needed to confirm its existence. Mercury and Pluto do not have lightning events due to the lack of atmospheres, but dust storms and other events can produce some localized lightning on Mars.

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Contact Randy Mann at randy@longrangeweather.com.