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Thunderstorms are SO RARE around here (California) that EVERYONE worships them (not just me, being the major geography/climate buff).
We get thunder and lightning maybe once every 2 years or so and everyone stops to look out the window at the pretty lights. Once, we had one during a statistics class and the professor stopped teaching so that we could go to the window and watch. Students cheered on the thunder and high fived each other everytime they saw lightning. The only one I know who does not enjoy them is my dog who shakes in terror and hides under the bed (he does that w/ fourth of July fireworks too which are sadly more common than thunderstorms in my neck of the woods).
I've gotten up in the middle of the night to go outside and walk around in the thunderstorm twice.
I know most of the Eastern U.S. gets regular thunderstorms in summer and people don't even notice them unless they are severe. I plan on vacationing to Florida sometime in the next few years and hope to experience some really big ones there (Of course, I'm gonna go there to explore the theme parks and sightsee so I don't want rain the whole trip so ideal situation would be a mixture of sunny weather and stormy weather).
On the flip side, I'm curious to see if there are any parts of the world that NEVER experience thunderstorms (like once every 50 years or even less). It's rare here but once every 2 years is still enough that people still know what it is when they hear it. If it was an event that happened once in a lifetime or less, I would imagine people wouldn't even know what it was when they heard a thunderclap.
Is there anyone on here who has NEVER seen thunder and lightning before?
On the flip side, I'm curious to see if there are any parts of the world that NEVER experience thunderstorms (like once every 50 years or even less). It's rare here but once every 2 years is still enough that people still know what it is when they hear it. If it was an event that happened once in a lifetime or less, I would imagine people wouldn't even know what it was when they heard a thunderclap.
Is there anyone on here who has NEVER seen thunder and lightning before?
If you have a look at this map many areas over open ocean as well as polar regions very rarely experience thunderstorms. Looks like the only populated areas that go many years without lightning are either cold year-round (Iceland, Greenland, Aleutian Peninsula/Islands) or hyper-arid (coastal Peru, northern Chile, southern Egypt).
Thunderstorms are SO RARE around here (California) that EVERYONE worships them (not just me, being the major geography/climate buff).
Funny, I've lived in one of the most thundery cities on earth (Singapore) and found that quite a few people are still excited by them (e.g. to the point of getting out of their flat and taking pictures/videos), usually when they are particularly strong though - I always did There are as many as 168 thunderstorms a year there
If you have a look at this map many areas over open ocean as well as polar regions very rarely experience thunderstorms. Looks like the only populated areas that go many years without lightning are either cold year-round (Iceland, Greenland, Aleutian Peninsula/Islands) or hyper-arid (coastal Peru, northern Chile, southern Egypt).
Really like this video. Looks like the guy is literally driving into the darkness. Compare the light in the beginning of the video to the last seconds.
I love watching them but thats from comfort of a window lol. I swear thunderstorms were more severe in the UK when I was little. The last one we had they was about 4 rumbles and that was it lol
[URL="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_Lb5hYjeZWM"]Ukkonen Helsingissä 8.8.2010 osa 1 - YouTube[/URL]
Really like this video. Looks like the guy is literally driving into the darkness. Compare the light in the beginning of the video to the last seconds.
See I would truly crap myself seeing that ahead - but it amazing to watch at the same time
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There are as many as 168 thunderstorms a year there 
