Thunderbolt And Lightning (Very, Very Frightening!)

Several lightning strikes have been detected amongst the storms and bad weather that is currently all over the country. According to Vísir, thunder was heard in the Suðurnes yesterday afternoon.

Orange weather warnings are currently in effect in Breiðafjörður, Faxaflói, the Westfjords, Strandir and Northwest Iceland. Most of the rest of the country has yellow weather warnings–only East Iceland is without weather warnings, according to RÚV.

Páll Ágúst Þórarinsson, a meteorologist at the Icelandic Meteorological Office, counted 20 lightning strikes around Skeiðarársandur between noon and midnight yesterday.

Thunder storms are considered relatively rare in Iceland. Meteorologist Teitur Arason said in conversation with Vísir that, “Abroad, this is very insignificant, there are often hundreds of lightning strikes. The lightning in Keflavík was not actually measured, but there was thunder and two have been measured in Borgarfjörður, Icelanders always find this a bit remarkable.”

However, thunder storms in Iceland are not quite as rare as people often think, and recent years have seen perfect conditions for lightning created by warm temperatures and stormy weather. July 2019 saw 1,818 lightning strikes in a single day.