7 Fascinating Facts About Lightning and Thunderstorms to Spark Your Curiosity!

1. Lightning – destroyers and killers

Lightning is something best admired from the comfort and safety of your home. However, the experience is very different if you find yourself in a thunderstorm while out in the countryside or up in the mountains. Why is that? Because lightning poses significant risks, and it has the power to kill and cause destruction. The chapel on Břístevská hora and the remains of the Church of St. Blažej near Toužim are two examples of this; both structures were demolished by lightning strikes and have never been restored. On the other hand, some buildings, like the chapel of St. Florian and St. Sebastian in Bzenec, the church of St. Jilja in Nymburk, and the tower of Náchod castle, have been luckier. Notably, Mary’s Lookout near Jetřichovice in Bohemian Switzerland has suffered multiple lightning strikes, with Landštejn Castle famously catching fire after such an event.

2. Lightning and Thunder Mountain Milešovka

In the Czech Republic, no location experiences as many lightning strikes each year as Milešovka. Besides lightning, this area is extremely windy, making the mountain summit the gustiest spot in the country. Why is this? Milešovka stands at 836.5 meters above sea level, making it the tallest peak in the Bohemian Central Highlands. Its height draws lightning storms towards it. The German naturalist Alexander von Humboldt praised the views from Milešovka, and the unique weather conditions prompted the establishment of a meteorological station with a lookout tower at the site back in January 1905. Today, this most ancient mountain observatory in the Czech Republic is operated by the Academy of Sciences, and you can witness the breathtaking scenery even without the lookout tower. If you find yourself in a thunderstorm, Veber’s emergency room nearby offers a reliable shelter.

3. Record number of lightning strikes per square kilometre: Venezuela

How does Milešovka measure up against its international counterparts? Here, we see around 35 thunderstorms a year, and the peak recorded is five lightning strikes in just 15 minutes. According to climate satellites, approximately 15 to 40 lightning strikes occur per square kilometre in our area each year. However, the title for the most lightning strikes goes to the Catatumba region near Venezuela’s Lake Maracaibo, which sees about 250 strikes. Consequently, this region has held a spot in the Guinness Book of Records for the highest frequency of lightning since 2015. It’s important to note that land experiences more lightning than water, and warmer areas see significantly more strikes than cooler ones. This leads us to the next record-holder: regions in Africa around Lakes Tanganyika and Victoria.

4. Lightning Tamer

In English-speaking countries, the name most associated with the invention of the lightning rod is Benjamin Franklin (1706-1790), a prominent American statesman, diplomat, naturalist, and writer. However, several individuals were exploring the phenomena of lightning, thunder, and electricity around the same period. In the Czech Republic, Prokop Diviš (1698-1765), a parish priest from Přímětice, made notable contributions. On June 15, 1754, he built the first lightning rod, which he termed machina meteorologica, in his parish garden. There is still a small monument and a replica of the original lightning rod located in the village square in front of St. Margaret’s Church in his honor.

5. Lightning for meteorologists

Meteorologists and weather experts regard lightning, especially when accompanied by thunderstorms, as important indicators of atmospheric conditions. They categorize lightning into types: positive and negative, smooth and richly branched, as well as CG lightning (cloud-to-ground), IC (intra-cloud, occurring within a single storm cloud), and CC (cloud-to-cloud, across adjacent clouds). They can differentiate between a typical thunderstorm and supercells, which are much stronger, and recognize that storms on tropical nights can sometimes lack lightning altogether. Essentially, lightning provides meteorologists with valuable insights that reveal much more about the state of the atmosphere beyond just indicating that a storm is coming or winding down.

6. Look: what colour is the flash?

Weather experts study lightning closely, as its color reveals insights about how the storm might evolve. For instance, a purple flash often indicates an intense downpour, while if lightning appears blue, it serves as a warning of particular matter in the atmosphere. When dirt particles dominate the air, smaller water droplets form, which freeze more rapidly and cause the storm cloud to intensify, producing greater lightning and even hail. Conversely, white lightning generally signifies fewer drops or hail, but with high temperatures reaching up to 30,000 °C—five times hotter than the surface of the Sun. Such intense lightning can easily ignite fires in dry areas. A flash of yellow lightning suggests an above-average amount of dust in the air, whipped up by strong winds from the ground.

7. Did we bring the devastating storms on ourselves?

Unfortunately, the answer is yes. The formation of storm clouds and the intensity of lightning are influenced by the rising temperature of the Earth and airborne pollutants. Smoke, dust, and other particulates act as condensation nuclei, which influence how droplets form. Research on storms over the oceans uncovered a surprising trend: areas with higher lightning frequencies align with busy shipping routes. Remarkably, these areas experience more than double the normal lightning activity.

How to behave during a thunderstorm and save yourself from a lightning strike?

In the Czech Republic, we experience about 25 to 40 storm days each year. Each year, lightning leads to multiple fires in towns, villages, and the countryside, and regrettably, injuries or even fatalities can occur. Although the chances of being struck by lightning are about 1 in 3,000,000, on average, around 10 people die daily across the globe from lightning-related incidents.

The following safety recommendations come from the Fire Brigade of the Czech Republic—and they truly understand lightning well.

• • We should avoid going outside unnecessarily during a storm and refrain from planning any excursions if there is a storm warning.

• • If we find ourselves outdoors when a storm strikes, we should seek shelter in larger buildings, particularly those constructed with steel or reinforced concrete, or any building equipped with lightning rods.

• • While in nature, we can take cover in thick forests, lower vegetation, or a narrow valley. However, it’s risky to hide under solitary trees, at the edge of forests, beneath low-hanging rocks, or in small structures lacking lightning rods.

• • The risk of being struck by lightning is highest in open areas, on elevated terrain, near tall trees, power line poles, or bodies of water, including streams and wetlands.

• • We should never lean against a wall or rock face during a storm, nor should we stand on hills or flat plains.

• • If we are unexpectedly hit by a storm in a vast open field, it’s best not to wander further and to remain in a group. The safest position is to crouch down with our feet and hands close together. Lying flat on the ground is unwise, and sitting on an insulating pad like a mattress or backpack won’t provide safety from a direct lightning hit.

• • Engaging in activities like swimming, windsurfing, or boating during a storm is highly dangerous. It is also unsafe to use telephones or work with electrical and gas appliances during such events.

• • When outside in a storm, avoid carrying metal objects, as they can act as lightning conductors. For example, in 2005, a golfer tragically lost his life after refusing to stop playing during a thunderstorm.