Dashcam footage captured a rare sunny-sky lightning bolt hitting a tree in the suburb of Tampa, Florida:
Jonathan Moore captured the video of the bolt from the blue on his Thinkware dashcam. He explained that the lightning was unexpected, especially considering the fact that the skies were sunny and the nearest thunderstorm was eight miles away from his home at the time.
A series of summer thunderstorms moved across west-central Florida on August 10, bringing lightning and gusty winds, according to the National Weather Service.
This is believed to be referred to as a 'bolt from the blue' by meteorologists and are described as lightning bolts that travel miles from actual thunderstorm clouds but then angle downward before striking Earth... fair enough.
Multiple #showers & #thunderstorms developing across west central & #SWFL, especially along the coast! Please remain #WeatherReady as frequent #lighting & gusty winds will be possible near storms!⛈️☔️ #FLwx pic.twitter.com/rg6gYYNnR2— NWS Tampa Bay (@NWSTampaBay) August 10, 2020
It's not only America experiencing strange weather conditions with lightning coming from nowhere. The UK has also had some rather bizarre goings on recently with one storm dubbed the 'weirdest ever' because they were completely silent.
People living in the north of England witnessed almost a month's worth of rain across the region earlier this week but some baffled residents were more concerned about the flashes across the sky with no thunder.
One took to social media writing: "In Manchester and you can hear nothing. Is it the end of the world as we know it? Creepy yet beautiful."
The most bizarre lightning I've ever seen this evening. Completely silent, constant flashes, no rain. Been going on for an hour or so now. Any weather experts care to enlighten? I seem to remember something similar happening at the start of War of the Worlds... pic.twitter.com/7G2j1jZZsg— Matt Harrison šŖšŗ (@gnwmatt) August 10, 2020
Tonight's rapid, silent, purple #lightning is brought to you by the letters W, T and F!#lightningstorm pic.twitter.com/Gp1n887EXR— Rod Bell (@Villordsutch) August 10, 2020
Someone else added: "Witnessing the weirdest lightning storm I've ever seen in my life. No rain, barely any thunder, but almost constant lightning that's been going on for nearly an hour now."
Nicola Maxey, a spokesman for the Met Office, told the Mirror: "It's not an unusual phenomenon. Light travels further than sound. You sometimes see the lightning flash but you are too far away to hear the thunder."