Massachusetts
Shocker: This New England State Gets the Most Lightning in the Region
Summertime and the living is easy. The weather can be rough, especially if you don’t like heat and humidity – and then there are the summer thunderstorms.
All of it beats winter cold and snow, as far as I am concerned.
New Bedford has the record for the hottest temperature recorded in Massachusetts, when it hit 107 degrees on August 2, 1975. I remember how my friends and I cruised Acushnet Avenue in a 1967 Mustang convertible. My friends Bob and Debbie were married that day.
Hot and humid weather can lead to unstable air and thunderstorms.
Earth Networks stated that “Massachusetts typically experiences 10-30 thunderstorms per year, with most activity occurring in the summer.”
“In 2020, Massachusetts ranked 38th in the country for total lightning pulses, which is the combination of cloud-to-ground (CG) and in-cloud (IC) lightning strikes,” Earth Networks reported.
This New England State Gets The Most Lightning In The Region
Lightning is most common in the United States in June, July and August when more than 60 percent of the year’s lightning occurs.
June is the most active month for lightning in Massachusetts, followed by August and July. Those are also the months when the most dangerous thunderstorm alerts are issued.
Of the 14 counties in Massachusetts, Bristol County ranked 10th in 2020 for total lightning pulses experienced. Worcester County had the most, followed by Middlesex County. Nantucket County had the least. Plymouth County ranked seventh.
Texas recorded the most lightning pulses in 2020, 63,683,799, followed by Florida with 35,430,198.
Massachusetts was 38th with 1,267,046, the most lightning pulses of the six New England states, followed by Connecticut, New Hampshire, Maine and Vermont. Rhode Island was 48th with 190,992.
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Gallery Credit: KATELYN LEBOFF