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Honored Contributor
Posts: 41,253
Registered: ‎03-09-2010

Re: Lightening storms but no rain.

we get heat lightening in the maryland area. we get quite a bit of heat lightening at the delmarva beaches, especially in the summertime.

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Honored Contributor
Posts: 20,019
Registered: ‎08-08-2010

Re: Lightening storms but no rain.

Yep, heat lightening. Pretty common in the area that the OP comes from. Surprised she never heard of it or experienced it in the past. 

 

And I've heard of dry thunderstorms before. The lower atmosphere is so dry the rain is absorbed/evaporated before it reaches the ground. 

Honored Contributor
Posts: 35,597
Registered: ‎05-22-2016

Re: Lightening storms but no rain.

Here in Colorado we get a lot of lightening strikes that travel underground...'ground lightening'.  It happens here because of the high metal (iron) content in the soil.  Sometimes it comes up into buildings like it did to my house. Fortunately I was not hurt but I lost just about every electrical  appliance and electronic device in my house. TG for insurance! Surge protector would not have helped in this instance. 

Honored Contributor
Posts: 16,075
Registered: ‎03-10-2010

Re: Lightening storms but no rain.

That use to be called heat lighting, at least in midwest.

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Respected Contributor
Posts: 3,083
Registered: ‎03-10-2010

Re: Lightening storms but no rain.

I live in southeast Florida.  I see this a lot in the summer.  Usually during the evening an night.

Honored Contributor
Posts: 16,075
Registered: ‎03-10-2010

Re: Lightening storms but no rain.


@Mominohio wrote:

Yep, heat lightening. Pretty common in the area that the OP comes from. Surprised she never heard of it or experienced it in the past. 

 

And I've heard of dry thunderstorms before. The lower atmosphere is so dry the rain is absorbed/evaporated before it reaches the ground. 


Saw you post after i did mine ,yes that is what we use to call it.

When you lose some one you L~O~V~E, that Memory of them, becomes a TREASURE.
Respected Contributor
Posts: 3,984
Registered: ‎03-19-2010

Re: Lightening storms but no rain.

We have heat lightening here in my area (SW PA), but its not like lightening strikes, which we see when there is a far off storm or when we're at the beach watching strkes out over the ocean.  Just usually flashes on the horizon.

Honored Contributor
Posts: 69,382
Registered: ‎03-10-2010

Re: Lightening storms but no rain.

We get a lot of lightening without rain.  Often if you look off in the distance it'll look like it's raining but the rain evaporates due to low humidity and never reaches the ground.  This phenomenon is called "virga" and it's common in the desert.

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Esteemed Contributor
Posts: 7,322
Registered: ‎02-22-2015

Re: Lightening storms but no rain.

[ Edited ]

Heat lightening. We've seen it most states that we've lived in: Nebraska, Iowa, Illinois, Ohio and PA. Tampa receives more heat lightening that any other city in the US. It's gorgeous anyplace! Just enjoy the beauty of Mother Nature.

 

ETA: Don't know why this post says 5:05 pm. It's really 4:05 CT. Weird.  How do I fix that?

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Esteemed Contributor
Posts: 6,633
Registered: ‎10-21-2010

Re: Lightening storms but no rain.

We call it heat lightening also.