279 lightnings registered between Madeira and Porto Santo in four hours

During the last night, more than 300 lightning strikes were recorded in the Madeira Region – within a radius of 300 km from Funchal – with a particular incidence in the northeast area of ​​Madeira Island and the south coast of Porto Santo Island.

The period of greatest electrical activity occurred between the end of Saturday night (11 pm) and mid-morning today (3 am). In this four-hour interval, the network of thunderstorm detectors of the Portuguese Institute of the Sea and the Atmosphere (IPMA) recorded 279 atmospheric electrical discharges, most of them very close to or even close to the land territory of the two islands.

In 24 hours, between 15:00 on Saturday and 15:00 today, within a radius of 300 km from Funchal, 403 atmospheric electrical discharges were recorded – 49 were positive rays, 240 negative rays, and 114 intra-clouds.

After passing through Madeira, the frequent and dispersed thunderstorm continued to be felt this Sunday over the Atlantic, north of the Madeira Archipelago, extending to the west coast of mainland Portugal.

In 24 hours, until 3 pm today, in the Region of Portugal (within a radius of 1,100 km) 13,680 atmospheric electrical discharges were recorded – 1,550 positive rays; 8,217 negative rays, 3,913 intra-clouds.

From Diário Notícias

My friend Jack Ventura took this great photo from Porto Santo last night.