Rancher and 34 Cattle killed by lightning in Colorado.

A rancher and 34 Cattle have been killed by a lightning strike in Jackson County, Colorado. Mike Morgan (51) was unloading bales of hay from a trailer, when the vehicle was hit by the lightning bolt, at about 2.00 pm local time on Saturday 25 May 2024. The incident was witnessed by Morgan's wife and father-in-law, who reported that the strike knocked over about a hundred Cattle that were surrounding the trailer at the time of the incident, the majority of these got back up almost immediately, but 34 were found to have died, along with Mr Morgan.

Cattle killed by a lightning strike in Jackson County, Colorado, on 25 May 2024. Shannon Lukens/Denver Visitor.

The Earth's surface is struck by lightning about 40 million times each year, but it is extremely rare for people to be hit. The average Human has a roughly one in 15 000 chance of being hit by lightning during their lifetime, with 90% of those who are hit surviving.

Thunderstorms occur when warm, moist bodies of air encounter cooler, drier air packages. The warm air rises over the cooler air until it rises above its dew point (the point where it cools too far to retain its water content as vapor), and the water precipitates out, falling as rain, sleet, or hail.

Warm moist air passing over the surface of the Earth acts as an electrical generator, creating a negative charge in the cloud tops and a positive charge at the ground (or occasionally in a second cloud layer). The atmosphere acts as an electrical insulator, allowing this potential to build up, until water begins to precipitate out. This allows a channel of ionized air to form, carrying a current between the clouds and the ground, which we perceive as lightning.

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Flooding and landslides kill at least twenty two people in northern India.

At least twenty two people have lost their lives in a series of flooding and landslide events across northern India, where this year's monsoon has brought 59% more rainfall so far this year than would be expected at by this date on an average year.

Six people have died in four separate incidents in Himachal Pradesh; three members of the same family died in when their house collapsed after being hit by a landslide. Two other people died in landslides in Kullu and Chamba districts. Also in Shimla, a young girl is reported to have died when a raft of debris caried by floodwaters struck her home; an elderly lady is reportedly still trapped beneath the debris of the building, with rescuers attempting to reach her. The state recorded 14 major landslides and 13 flash floods on Friday 7 and Saturday 8 July 2023. There are also reports of shops being swept away in the resort town of Manali, and of cars being washed away in several districts. Over 700 roads in Himachal Pradesh are currently closed, with flooding and landslips sweeping away many roads connecting remote communities to the outside world, and all schools and colleges will be closed on Monday and Tuesday as a precaution. The city of Solan recorded 135 mm of rain on Sunday 9 July, the highest ever rainfall recorded, breaking a previous record of 105 mm set in 1971. 

The Beas River in Kullu District, Himachal Pradesh, on Sunday 9 July 2023. Press Trust of India.

In Uttarakhand three people are known to have died and three are still missing after a landslide swept their jeep into the swollen Ganga River, while they were undertaking a pilgrimage. Five other people who were in the vehicle have been rescued. In another incident in the same state, a house collapse in Kashipur is reported to have killed two people and injured their granddaughter.

In Jammu and Kashmir two people are reported to have died when a landslide hit the bus they were travelling in in Doda District. Elsewhere in the state, a man was killed when his car was struck by a falling boulder in Ladakh, and two soldiers are reported to have drowned while attempting to cross a river in Poonch District.

Part of the Jammu-Srinagar National Highway in Jammu and Kashmir swept away by a landslide. Press Trust of India.

In Haryana State a man is reported to have drowned in Gurugram District, while another man, reportedly his cousin, is still missing. 

In Uttar Pradesh, a 10-year-old girl is reported to have died when a tree fell onto the shack she was living in in Kaushambi District, while in Muzaffarnagar District a woman and her six-year-old daughter died when the roof of their home collapsed under the weight of water that had pooled there. In the city of Ballia two people died and three more were injured after being struck by lightning in separate incidents. 

Monsoons are tropical sea breezes triggered by heating of the land during the warmer part of the year (summer). Both the land and sea are warmed by the Sun, but the land has a lower ability to absorb heat, radiating it back so that the air above landmasses becomes significantly warmer than that over the sea, causing the air above the land to rise and drawing in water from over the sea; since this has also been warmed it carries a high evaporated water content, and brings with it heavy rainfall. In the tropical dry season, the situation is reversed, as the air over the land cools more rapidly with the seasons, leading to warmer air over the sea, and thus breezes moving from the shore to the sea (where air is rising more rapidly) and a drying of the climate. This situation is particularly intense in South Asia, due to the presence of the Himalayas. High mountain ranges tend to force winds hitting them upwards, which amplifies the South Asian Summer Monsoon, with higher winds leading to more upward air movement, thus drawing in further air from the sea.

Diagrammatic representation of wind and rainfall patterns in a tropical monsoon climate. Geosciences/University of Arizona.

While the monsoon always brings problems to India, this year's monsoon has produced an uneven distribution of rain, with the north of the country receiving 59% more rain than would usually be expected, while in the south, between 23% and 45% less rain than usual has fallen. This year an El Niño weather system has been developing over the South Pacific, something which usually tends to supress the Indian monsoon, something which may be happening in the south of the country, but northern India, Pakistan, and Nepal have all been suffering deadly floods, something which may be related to the rising global atmospheric temperatures.

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Danish airport worker struck by lightning.

A Danish airport worker is being treated in hospital after being struck by lightning on Wednesday 12 June 2019. The 58-year-old man was working at Copenhagen Airport when a thunderstorm broke suddenly in the evening, and was struck in the airport grounds. He was rushed to the Rigshospitalet, where his condition is described as 'not dangerous'. A house in the town of Dragør, just outside Copenhagen, was also struck by lightning, resulting in a small fire, though nobody was injured in this incident.

Copenhagen Airport. Google Maps.

Thunderstorms occur when warm, moist bodies of air encounter cooler, drier air packages. The warm air rises over the cooler air until it rises above its dew point (the point where it cools to far to retain its water content as vapour), and the water precipitates out, falling as rain, sleet or hail.

Warm moist air passing over the surface of the Earth acts as an electrical generator, creating a negative charge in the cloud tops and a positive charge at the ground (or occasionally in a second cloud layer). The atmosphere acts as an electrical insulator, allowing this potential to build up, until water begins to precipitate out. This allows a channel of ionised air to form, carrying a current between the clouds and the ground, which we perceive as lightning.

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Motorcyclist killed by lightning in Florida.

A motorcyclist has died after being struck by lightning in Florida on Sunday 9 June 2019. The victim, identified as a 45-year-old-man from Charlotte, North Carolina, was travelling south on the I-95 near Ormond Beach in Volusia County when he was hit. It is unclear whether he was killed by the lightning or the subsequent crash.

Emergency vehicles on the I-95 in Florida after a motorcylist was struck by lightning on 9 June 2019. CBS.

Thunderstorms occur when warm, moist bodies of air encounter cooler, drier air packages. The warm air rises over the cooler air until it rises above its dew point (the point where it cools to far to retain its water content as vapor), and the water precipitates out, falling as rain, sleet or hail.

Warm moist air passing over the surface of the Earth acts as an electrical generator, creating a negative charge in the cloud tops and a positive charge at the ground (or occasionally in a second cloud layer). The atmosphere acts as an electrical insulator, allowing this potential to build up, until water begins to precipitate out. This allows a channel of ionized air to form, carrying a current between the clouds and the ground, which we perceive as lightning.

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Landslide kills nine-year-old girl in Jammu and Kashmir, India.

A nine-year-old-girl has died and three of her relatives have been injured in the Rajouri District of Jammu and Kashmir, India, on Saturday 3 November 2018. Shabina Kousar was a member of a group of nomadic Bakarwal people, who had set up a tent encampment close to a shrine in the village of Chatyar, as part of an annual migration between summer grazing grounds in the high mountains of the region and winter grazing grounds in the lowlands.

The approximate location of the 3 November 2018 Rajouri District landslide. Google Maps.

The incident occurred during a series of thunderstorms which swept across Jammu and Kashmir over the past three days. Thunderstorms occur when warm, moist bodies of air encounter cooler, drier air packages. The warm air rises over the cooler air until it rises above its dew point (the point where it cools to far to retain its water content as vapour), and the water precipitates out, falling as rain, sleet or hail. 

In a separate incident a villager was killed and two relatives injured by a lightning strike in Reasi District. Warm moist air passing over the surface of the Earth acts as an electrical generator, creating a negative charge in the cloud tops and a positive charge at the ground (or occasionally in a second cloud layer). The atmosphere acts as an electrical insulator, allowing this potential to build up, until water begins to precipitate out. This allows a channel of ionised air to form, carrying a current between the clouds and the ground, which we perceive as lightning.

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Storms kill at least 41 in India.

At least 41 people have died as a series of storms swept across India on Sunday 13 May 2018. Twelve people in West Bengal and nine in Andhra Pradesh are reported to have died directly as a result of lightning strikes while gathering crops, while in Uttar Pradesh and Dehli another 20 people died in a series of dust, hail, and thunder storms which brought down trees and power lines, damaged homes and caused a number of fires.

A dust storm hits the city of Ghaziabad in Uttar Pradesh on Sunday 13 May 2018. Indira Punam/Asian News International.

Thunder and dust storms are a common phenomena in arid regions, and are caused by high winds lifting particles from the ground. These are common in northern India in the summer season, a three month hot period lasting from March to June, when temperatures can pass 45° but humidity remains low, and high winds are particularly common ahead of the onset of the monsoon season.

Warm moist air passing over the surface of the Earth acts as an electrical generator, creating a negative charge in the cloud tops and a positive charge at the ground (or occasionally in a second cloud layer). The atmosphere acts as an electrical insulator, allowing this potential to build up, until water begins to precipitate out. This allows a channel of ionised air to form, carrying a current between the clouds and the ground, which we perceive as lightning.

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Thunderstorms kill fifteen in Uttar Pradesh, and cause damage to Taj Mahal.

Fifteen people have died and another 37 in thunder storms in and around the city of Agra in Uttar Pradesh on Wednesday 11 April 2018, which also caused damage to the historic Taj Mahal complex. Seven people died in the town of Sadar, five in Kirawali, two in Bah and one in Kheragarh. The precise causes of these fatalities have not been released at the time of writing, but the storm is known to have downed both trees and power lines, as well as having brought high winds, hail and numerous lighting strikes. At the Taj Mahal complex two minarets on separate gatehouses were brought down by high winds, though the main Taj Mahal building itself was unharmed.

People viewing damage to minarets in the Taj Mahal complex on 12 April 2018. AFP/Getty Images.

Thunder and dust storms are a common phenomena in arid regions, and are caused by high winds lifting particles from the ground. These are common in Uttar Pradesh in the summer season, a three month hot period lasting from March to June, when temperatures can pass 45° but humidity remains low, and high winds are particularly common ahead of the onset of the monsoon season. This weeks events come only eight days after a series of dust storms claimed three lives in the state on 8 April.

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