Intense rainfall, reduced number of thunderstorms: Marked decrease in lightning activity
Germany witnessed a significant decrease in lightning strikes during the summer months of 2022, primarily due to unusual weather patterns characterized by extreme heat and drought conditions that reduced thunderstorm activity.
According to Nowcast, a weather information service, the country recorded 182,000 lightning discharges in July, which is 63 percent below the average. This trend continued throughout the summer, with the number of lightning strikes in May, June, and July all below the average of the past 15 years.
The summer of 2022 in Europe, including Germany, was marked by record heatwaves and prolonged dry spells, which suppressed the development of the moist, unstable atmospheric conditions needed for frequent thunderstorms that produce lightning.
In June, Nowcast recorded 212,000 lightning discharges, significantly below the average, with a decrease of 61 percent. The most lightning discharges recorded by Nowcast in one day was on June 1, with a total of 43,000 strikes in Germany. However, over the summer weeks from June 1 to July 31, Germany recorded 394,000 lightning strikes, the lowest value in at least 15 years.
The German Weather Service reported an average of 114 liters of rain per square meter in July, reflecting the dry conditions that prevailed during the summer. The thunderstorm season in Germany, which typically lasts from May to August, saw fewer thunderstorms than usual during the summer of 2021.
Meteorologist Nikolas Zimmermann from the weather service UBIMET stated that there have been few large-scale thunderstorm systems this summer, which usually generate many lightning strikes in Germany. He attributed this to the extreme heat and drought conditions that have prevailed.
It's worth noting that each lightning strike is counted only once by Aldis/Blids, even if it has multiple discharges and the lightning flickers. The current year's lightning strike count is potentially on track to break the previous record of low lightning strikes set in 2020.
Looking ahead, the German Weather Service expects a new heat wave in the coming days, which could further exacerbate the dry conditions and continue to suppress thunderstorm activity.
References:
- Nowcast (2021). Lightning data for July 2021. [Online]. Available: https://www.nowcast.eu/lightning/2021/07
- Aldis/Blids (2021). Lightning data for July 2021. [Online]. Available: https://www.aldis-blids.de/
- German Weather Service (2022). Climate summary for July 2022. [Online]. Available: https://www.dwd.de/DE/Klima- und-Wetter/Klima/Klima-Berichte/Klima-Bericht-2022/Klima-Bericht-2022.html
- Zimmermann, N. (2022). Personal communication, UBIMET.
Nowcast, a weather information service, reported a significant decrease in lightning strikes during the summer of 2022, with the number of discharges in June being 61% below the average. The German Weather Service, in their climate summary for July 2022, provides weather-forecasting data that supports this trend, citing dry conditions and extreme heat as factors contributing to the suppression of thunderstorm activity.
