Intense lightning storm 2024-07-20
 

Short video of storm with near continuous lightning Saturday night 2024-07-20:
https://youtu.be/Ce2439_a2wc

Then, on Sunday morning I passed by a house with a palm tree that looks like it exploded, maybe from a lightning strike.

7/23 update: By Tuesday, the palm tree was cut down and is gone.

Unbelievable lighting storm last night. My wife and I sat out in our screened in front porch for about 45 minutes and watched the show. We have never seen so much non-stop lightning before in our entire long lives.

Lots of fireworks for sure.

My weather station recorded a new record of over 6,000 lightening
strikes.

As beautiful as it was, unfortunately there were at least two homes damaged/destroyed by fire last night.

Wow! Thanks for the video. If the palm was struck, those homeowners dodged a bullet.

Oh no! Were the houses in The Villages? Which Villages were struck?

That was a huge amount of lightning. First time we ever saw our solar lights flash on every few seconds

To find out why lightning caused 2 Villages homes to catch on fire (and not other homes) -- come to the Science & Technology Club, July 22 at 1 PM, to hear Len Hathaway (the Villages lightning expert) give a 5-minute overview -- prior to the Hurricane presentation.

In 2017 lightning struck our very tall Sylvester palm, traveled across the street and knocked out the water main. The strike did not cause as much obvious damage as to the tree pictured above by Johnny but it died within a couple weeks.

But in the sixteen years we've been here, the intense electrical storms of this summer appear to be the worst we've ever experienced.

It seems like more, because like with cell phones, everyone can now see all lightning strikes globally, thanks to modern technology. There is no data to support the "worst ever" regarding storms. For example, the attached chart is from the Florida Climate Center, which shows Ocala July rains over 2 inches since 1892. In general, global warming, actually inhibits not only hurricanes, but also thunderstorms. Find out more at the Weather Club ... The Villages Weather Club

My dog was terrified by all that. He was panting heavily and shaking with fear.

So you know the two homes involved, but need to attend a meeting to find out location?

I believe they are on Foggy Brook Loop in St. Charles and on Lyman Way in Sunset Pointe.

The walls in our home SHOOK with the thunder.

No I don't know where they are -- but Len Hathaway does (including details) -- or you can wait to see if the news prints it -- which sometimes they don't so as not to scare new comers.