Spain sees over 2400 lightning strikes on Saturday says AEMET

Spain sees over 2400 lightning strikes on Saturday says AEMET Credit: Twitter @AEMET_Esp

Spain’s State Meteorological Agency stated that on Saturday, May, 14, their lightning network detected the lightning strikes over a period of six hours.

“Between 10h (08 UTC) and 16h (14UTC) the AEMET lightning network has detected more than 2400 lightning strikes. +info,” read a tweet posted by Spain’s AEMET.

https://twitter.com/AEMET_Esp/status/1525496415090356228

Credit: Twitter @AEMET_Esp

AEMET’s official website stated:

This map presents the lightning strikes detected in the region during a period of 6 hours. Lightning strikes over the land area of France and Portugal are not represented on the map, but are counted in the legend at the bottom of the map.

The position of each detected lightning strike is represented by a dot (negative discharges) or a plus sign (positive discharges). The colour indicates the UTC (Universal Time Coordinate) time of each lightning stroke: red for the most recent and dark blue for the oldest (see Interpretation).

In the selector located below the map where the different times can be selected, the official time is used:

Peninsula and Balearic Islands: Winter = UTC time + 1 hour, Summer = UTC time + 2 hours.
Canary Islands: Winter = UTC time, Summer = UTC time + 1 hour

“Convective activity extends from Teruel to Asturias. Some convective cells exceed 54dBZ. Real-time access to regional radars and national composition is available at…,” read another Tweet by AEMET alongside pictures of the energy caught on the regional radars.

Credit: Twitter @AEMET_Esp

On their website AEMET wrote more about the convective activity behind the lightning strikes:

Convective activity extends from Teruel to Asturias, Spain. Some convective cells exceed 54dBZ. Real-time access to regional radars and national composition is available at:
Reflectivity images corresponding to the lowest elevation of the radar scan (0.5° above the horizontal plane). The colour scale indicates reflectivity ranges in decibels Z.

Echo-top height images with reflectivity greater than 12 decibels (dBZ). The colour scale indicates altitude intervals in km.

One-hour and six-hour precipitation accumulation images. The colour scale indicates precipitation amount ranges, in millimetres.

“Images #METEOSAT VISIBLE channel last 6h,” read another tweet posted by AEMET, alongside footage of the gatherings of clouds seen over the Peninsula in the last six hours that led to the lightning strikes.

Credit: Twitter @AEMET_Esp

The thunderstorms and subsequent lightning strikes had been forecast previously by AEMET who for Saturday, May, 14, said that hail and showers accompanied by thunderstorms were expected in Spain during the afternoon, specifically in the Castilian-Leonese plateau, the Pyrenees, Aragon and the Iberian Cordillera.


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Written by

Joshua Manning

Originally from the UK, Joshua is based on the Costa Blanca and is a web reporter for the Euro Weekly News covering international and Spanish national news. Got a news story you want to share? Then get in touch at editorial@euroweeklynews.com.

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