Lightning

Now that 2023 is completely in the rear view mirror now, the number of lightning strikes in Missouri can finally be tallied. Please forgive the lightning pun, but the total really is shocking.

Imagine waking up at 4:45am to a deafening boom that rattles your entire house. For one Illinois woman, this surreal scenario became a harsh reality.

Summer storms continue to take their toll on Illinois. One part of the state recorded over 500 lightning strikes which may have been responsible for a church that caught fire.

It was a stormy weekend in parts of Illinois and also Missouri. In some cases, the sky was electric - literally. Brand new video captured the moment when 6 Illinois buildings were all struck by lightning at the same time.

As a kid, I was once dragged out the shower by my mom when a pop-up storm suddenly...well...popped up, I guess. Covered in soap and shampoo, I demanded to know why I'd gotten the vaudeville hook in the midst of a warm shower, and was told "So you don't get electrocuted, you idiot! You can die in the shower during a thunderstorm!"

Never underestimate a Midwestern thunderstorm when it comes to lighting up the sky with large bolts of electricity. That's exactly what happened recently as an impressive lightning display was captured in slow motion thanks to a fancy phone camera.

We see thunderstorms that sometimes produce tornadoes and many that also produce lighting. One recent Midwest thunderstorm decided to overachieve by doing both simultaneously.

You've likely seen your share of lightning and probably a lot of rainbows. But, I doubt you've ever seen lightning strike inside of a double rainbow and that's exactly what happened during a Midwest thunderstorm. Oh, and it happened on Friday the 13th.

If there's one woman in life you don't want to mess with, it's Mother Nature. I can't lie, I have a pretty irrational fear of thunderstorms. However, after seeing this video, I don't feel like my fear is very irrational. There's a ton of elements that scare me about thunderstorms...

If you want to know how far away lightning is from you, here's how to figure it out.