Unprecedented Lightning Activity Detected In Hurricane Milton Eyewall

This GOES-16 GeoColor satellite image taken at 4:50 p.m. EDT and provided by National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) shows Tropical Storm Milton, center, off the coast of Mexico in the

Meteorologist Chris Vagasky, from the University of Wisconsin-Madison, has reported an extraordinary phenomenon in Hurricane Milton currently active in the Atlantic Basin. The storm's eyewall, where the strongest winds are concentrated, has displayed an unprecedented number of lightning events. In just 14 hours, over 58,000 lightning events were detected, averaging more than one event per second.

This type of lightning activity, known as 'enveloped eyewall lightning' (EEL) signature, is rare, with only 10% of tropical cyclones worldwide developing this characteristic annually. To put this into perspective, Hurricane Ian, a Category 5 hurricane in the Gulf in 2022, had approximately 1,000 lightning events, significantly fewer than Hurricane Milton.