Odisha hit by over 5 000 lightning strikes in 30 minutes, leaving five dead
Five people have been killed during a severe thunderstorm in Odisha, India, as the Basudevpur area of Bhadrak district experienced an unprecedented 5 000 lightning strikes within a 30-minute span.
Odisha has been experiencing heavy rainfall and thunderstorms due to the influence of a western disturbance over the past couple of days. On Wednesday, March 29, the Basudevpur area of the Bhadrak district witnessed a staggering 5 000 lightning strikes within just 30 minutes, resulting in five reported fatalities.
Meteorologist Umashankar Das of the Bhubaneswar Meteorological Centre confirmed the extreme weather event in a tweet, noting the sheer number of lightning strikes in Basudevpur in such a short period. The exact location within Basudevpur where the lightning strikes occurred remains unclear.
The India Meteorological Department (IMD) has forecasted heavy rainfall (70 – 110 mm; 2.7 – 3.2 inches) at one or two locations in Sundargarh, Keonjhar, Mayurbhanj, Balasore, Cuttack, and Dhenkanal districts of Odisha on March 31.
The state is expected to experience thunderstorm activity with lightning, hail, and gusty winds, prompting the issuance of yellow and orange warnings until the morning of April 2.
References:
1 Over 5,000 lightning strikes in 30 minutes in Odisha – OdishaTV – March 29, 2023
Featured image credit: NOAA/GOES-20 VIIRS. Acquired on March 29, 2023
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