61000 lightning strikes in just two hours????

Odisha's skies were lit up as if there was a Diwali in the skies. But, instead of regaling the people, this left the people utterly scared for their life. Within just two hours, Odisha witnessed over 61000 lightning strikes. The heavy lightning was both between the clouds and between the cloud and earth. As a result of these lightning strikes, 12 people were left dead. Eight cattle also perished.

Odisha witnessed heavy rains due to a cyclonic circulation active over the Bay of Bengal. As a result, there was extensive cloud activity, leading to lightning strikes. The weather officials claimed that there were over 61000 lightning strikes. Of them, 36597 are cloud-to-cloud lightning, while the remaining are cloud-to-ground lightning. In cloud-to-ground lightning, the quick discharge of electric charge happens to the ground and this is extremely dangerous.

While lightning strikes are common during the rainy season, the high number of lightning strikes on Monday was unprecedented. On Sunday, there were 5300 lightning strikes in Odisha. Weatherman says that more lightning strikes are expected in the coming days as the cyclonic circulation could deteriorate further and cause heavy to heavier rains across the state.

Scientists studying weather phenomena predict that the rise in the sea surface area caused by climate change could lead to a further rise in lightning strikes across the globe. They predict that there could be a 50 per cent rise in the deadly lightning strikes by the end of the century. According to scientists,the number of lightning strikes is rising alarmingly along the coastal areas.