Earth electric storms frequency poll

[meemoeuk]

I forgot to put a 'no discernable difference' option. If you think there's no significant difference then use 'no'. ( can mods fix this?)


Don't know if there's a offical monitoring group which charts the world's electrical storms. Anyone got a link? If not, the best I can do is , have electrical storms become less frequent where you live in the last 3-4 years? i.e. the last 3-4 years of low solar activity.

For me, there are distinctly less electrical storms where I live compared to 5-10 years ago.

Don't know if a correlation between solar cycle and Earth electrical storms is already well evidenced. Oh well, it's at least always good to verify if this is the case.

I like lightening storms, I miss the good old days.

[woodstove]

What is your location?

[curiousgeorge]

In my part of the South they have been significantly less than they were.

[solarstormlover54]

The number an intensity of electrical storms in my area made a considerable increase in the last 3 years. This year was nearly double the activity of each of the last 10 years.

Generally The activity was high in the 1990s, went down quite a lot around 2001-2005 and from 2006 onward has been active
The likely reason is that we spent the first years of the 21 century with a severe drought, the low solar activity has cooled the area and now the rain is back. Generally we would be one of the most storm prone areas on the planet if we had the kind of moisture in the eastern part of NA

Also looking at the most active time-frames I can also link -PDO events with Thunderstorms.
The worst storm in my exact area hit on July 6 1975 and with it came 4 inch hail and high winds, the result was every single building lost all wind facing windows and suffered severe roof damage. Nearly half the cars in town were written off and Trees were also shredded bare. all this in 13 minutes

The same storm move east and hit the small town of Viking and was so bad that some building were stripped to the plywood, all siding, shingles and windows were stripped bare. Thats what 70mph winds and 4 inch hail can do. The storm is not well known well because it thankfully missed Major cities on it's track.

A storm of the same caliber hit Calgary in 1991 resulting in the costliest hail storm in Canadian history

[meemoeuk]

My location is north England UK. Interesting, getting mixed results so far.

[phydeaux2363]

Down in my neck of the woods we get them almost every day from May until mid September. It's hard to tell if there has been a trend. I think not, though, because more than half of our annual rain comes from such storms, and precip has been near normal here for several years.

[nautonnier]

Significantly lower in Eastern Florida. The area is back in drought again - and its meant to be one of the busiest thunderstorm areas in the world with convective storms every afternoon.

It looks like the air is drier and the atmospheric pattern has held that way for a while

www.ssd.noaa.gov/goes/east/natl/loop-wv.html

[farkstick]

Canada (Environment Canada): www.weatheroffice.gc.ca/lightning/index_e.html
USA (StrikeStar): www.strikestarus.com/

[farkstick]

Sept 30, 2010 16:55:29 GMT solarstormlover54 said:

Also looking at the most active time-frames I can also link -PDO events with Thunderstorms.

*snip*

A storm of the same caliber hit Calgary in 1991 resulting in the costliest hail storm in Canadian history

...Wait what?

[scooter]

Thunder boomers about the same here in S. Texas this year. Last year very few but then we where in the middle of the most severe 18 month drought on record.

[nautonnier]

Oct 1, 2010 0:32:29 GMT farkstick said:

Sept 30, 2010 16:55:29 GMT solarstormlover54 said:

Also looking at the most active time-frames I can also link -PDO events with Thunderstorms.

*snip*

A storm of the same caliber hit Calgary in 1991 resulting in the costliest hail storm in Canadian history

...Wait what?

"The recent storm that hammered the Calgary area with golf-ball-sized hailstones has now been deemed the costliest in Canadian history.

Doug Noble, vice president of the Insurance Bureau of Canada (IBC) for Alberta and The North, said tens of thousands of claims filed following the July 12 storm have caused the total damage estimate for homes, business and vehicles to skyrocket to $400 million.

The previous record was also held by the Calgary area after a storm pelted the city in 1991, generating about 62,000 claims and $342 million in home and vehicle damage."

www.calgarysun.com/news/alberta/2010/08/11/14990491.html

[boxman]

I would say the frequency has increased, which makes sense as they should be more active during times of low sun activity.

The best thunderstorm i have ever experienced was last year in spain. It flashed constantly from all parts of the sky with not even half a second between the flashes.
Here is some youtube videos i found of the same storm: www.youtube.com/watch?v=8CS7Ka9gOqE
and www.youtube.com/watch?v=80-Z1cfH7-Q
Was apparently visible throughout most of south eastern parts of spain.

[stranger]

My logs only go back to 1989, but I am getting substantially lower thunderstorm activity now than I did during the 1989 to 2004 period.

Stranger

[solarstormlover54]

I find it odd that this years storm caused more damage, the hail was nowhere near as big as 1991. Perhaps It's because this years storm was more of a direct hit on a city near twice the size as it was in 1991.

[birder]

We have had less thunderstorms this year in the midlands of England which isn't surprising since we've had no hot weather.