2020 India Lightning Report: Highlights

July 19, 2021

Compared to 2019, there was a 22.6% increase in lightning in India last year. This is according to Earth Networks ‘2020 India Lightning Report’.

Tamil Nadu, Andhra Pradesh, Odisha, West Bengal and Karnataka received the most lightning pulses.
During the year 2020, Maharashtra and Karnataka were among the top 10 States that had the highest lightning pulse counts.
More than 39.5 million pulses were detected in India last year by the company’s Total Lightning Network. Out of these, 12,022,402 were dangerous cloud-to-ground strikes.
In India, there were 7,447 Dangerous Thunderstorm Alerts issued and most of them were in the state of Tamil Nadu.
Odisha which was followed by Chhattisgarh experienced more than 1 million clouds to ground pulses in 2020.
In the year 2020, India saw the highest concentration of lightning in the months of May, June, and September because of the monsoon season.
According to the report, the dangers of lightning and severe weather pose a great threat to the population of India.
Due to the country’s proximity to the equator and the Indian Ocean, India experiences extreme amounts of moisture and heat which contributes to the sudden and severe thunderstorms throughout South Asian region.
A study conducted by the National Crime Records Bureau states that since the year 2001, every year 2,360 people die in India due to lightning strikes.

Earth Networks which published the report operates the largest global hyper local weather network.