Following last week’s intense heat wave, the Pacific Northwest on Monday saw an unusually high number of lightning strikes, according to the Northwest Interagency Coordination Center.
Monday night thunderstorms produced 3,577 lightning strikes, mostly in south central Oregon with a few strikes in northeastern Washington and along the west side of the Cascades.
This is about 5% of the average number of lightning strikes (67,723) in the Pacific Northwest each year, according to the agency.
The agency reported south central to southeast Oregon saw a third consecutive day of isolated thunderstorms Tuesday, with about 1,000 lightning strikes.
