Updated 8:27 PM ET, Wed May 5, 2021
This image from NOAA s GOES-16 satellite animation shows some of the millions of lightning events that were detected on Tuesday, May 4, 2021. (CNN)It s not just you Tuesday s storms were absolutely electric. Nearly 4.5 million lightning events were detected, which is the busiest the skies have been since May 20, 2017, according to experts who follow the charge.
What are we looking at here?
00 UTC 4 May 2021 - 00 UTC 5 May 2021 is the busiest #lightning day in North America since 2017!
The NALDN detected 4,498,673 events yesterday, the most since 4,547,173 events were detected on May 20, 2017. pic.twitter.com/Z7zP69KIVa Chris Vagasky (@COweatherman) May 5, 2021
It s not just you Tuesday s storms were absolutely electric. Nearly 4.5 million lightning events were detected, which is the busiest the skies have been since May 20, 2017, according to experts who follow the charge. Based on research that I ve done looking at lightning counts across the United States, the top 1% of lightning days produce about 3.1 million lightning events, so this was truly a high-end day, Chris Vagasky, lightning applications manager at Vaisala, told CNN. The last time the skies were this electrified was nearly four years ago, when more than 4.5 million lightning events were detected.
Satellites capture imagery of the busiest lightning day in years