Many people have stated that this summer has been “a good one” (so far) across North Idaho and the rest of the Inland Empire. The air quality has consistently been in the “good” category, despite some recent smoke in some areas. The average high temperature last month was very pleasant with a reading of 82 degrees. There were only two 90-degree days measured at Cliff’s station last month. The hottest afternoon was July 23 as the mercury hit 97 degrees, not a record, but close. However, there were 9 days with highs in the mid to upper 80s.

In terms of precipitation, we did end up below normal once again last month. The final rainfall total for July finished at .62 inches, compared to the normal of .92 inches. In addition to the hot afternoon on the 23rd, a large thunderstorm moved across the region later that evening.

The thunderstorm dropped about a quarter-of-an-inch of rain and a tree crashed through a house due to very strong winds. On that day, Cliff measured a wind gust of 58 miles per hour. Lightning also hit the northeast corner of his house and burned out some of his unprotected computer equipment. The equipment that was plugged into surge protectors survived the storm. Cliff told me that it was one of the wildest thunderstorms that he’s ever seen in North Idaho.

Speaking of lightning, there was an interesting report issued early this year from a company called Vaisala that manages the National Lightning Detection Network. The press release stated that 2018 had 11 percent fewer lightning strikes in the United States when compared to a 10-year average. According to the data, there were nearly two million fewer lightning strikes last year as nearly 18 million cloud-to-ground flashes, the most common, were reported. The average is about 19.7 million lightning flashes each year in the U.S.

Although a lightning strike only lasts for mere microseconds, a typical bolt contains approximately 1 billion volts. The average bolt is estimated to power a 100 watt lightbulb for 3 months. The speed of a lightning flash is at the speed of light, which is 670 million miles per hour. However, a lightning strike to the surface travels close to 270,000 miles per hour.

According to the Met Office in the United Kingdom, Lake Maracaibo in Venezuela is the place that receives most lightning strikes on average. Strong thunderstorms develop across this region approximately 140 to 160 nights per year. It’s estimated that there are 28 lightning strikes per minute and these storms can last up to 10 hours at a time. Doing the math, that’s around 40,000 lightning strikes in one night. Wow!

Each day there are approximately 3 to 8 million flashes across the globe. They can seem quite large when viewing from a distance, but the width of a typical bolt is about an inch. The length can stretch for up to 2-10 miles. The duration of a lightning flash is about one-fifth of a second. The typical bolt of lightning is about 40,000 to 50,000 degrees and is about four to five times hotter than the surface of the sun!

Damage costs from lightning are estimated at $4-5 billion each year in the U.S. And, there are more than 10,000 forest fires caused by lightning. In the Inland Empire, many of our large fires in the summer and early fall seasons have been caused by dry thunderstorms that were generated from numerous lightning strikes.

Despite all of the scientific knowledge, lightning is still one of nature’s great mysteries. People who are struck by lightning are often covered, usually temporarily, by branching tree-like patterns created by the passage of the high voltage of electrical discharges through the skin. Trees have exploded when struck by lightning and extreme heat from a strike can create “lightning fossils” when hitting sand or rock.

In terms of our local weather, we’re going to see more 90-degree days this week. The normal number of 90-degree days for Coeur d’Alene each year is 11. Cliff and I think we’ll be close to that number for 2019.

Not much precipitation is expected in our region through the middle of the month. Our seasonal total through Sunday is 17.50 inches. That’s very close to last year as we had 17.41 inches to date. August’s normal rainfall total is 1.23 inches and we think we’ll be near to that total as moisture should start to pick up a bit toward the middle to the end of the month. Last August, only .02 inches fell until .59 inches fell on the 26th and 27th.

With sea-surface temperatures cooling along the Equatorial regions, precipitation totals are expected to climb to above normal levels later in September and October. There’s still a good chance of a big snowy winter across the North Country. Early season cold air has already been moving into the extreme northern U.S. as a few towns in Minnesota were near the freezing mark last week. Eventually, some of that cold air should move toward the West. We’ll just have to wait and see.

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Contact Randy Mann at randy@longrangeweather.com