A Tonga volcanic plume has produced the most intense lightning storm ever recorded, with more than 40 flashes per second!

230106093022 lightning tonga eruption graphic vaisala

According to a recent study in the Geophysical Research Letters journal, the plume released by the 2022 eruption of the Hunga Volcano resulted in the most lightning flashes ever observed on Earth, surpassing any previously recorded storm. Sonja Behnke, of Los Alamos National Laboratory’s Electromagnetic Sciences and Cognitive Space Applications group, noted, “The eruption of…

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Hurricanes and tornadoes have ratings, now atmospheric rivers do too. The atmospheric river intensity scale or AR-X scale could help predict the severity of dangerous storm systems.

The atmospheric river intensity scale

A recently developed scale for atmospheric river intensity can be used to identify the hotspots of the most intense atmospheric rivers worldwide. The study shows that this scale, which ranks atmospheric rivers from AR-1 to AR-5 based on their duration and moisture transport, is no longer just a meteorological term, but it also helps communities…

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