Storm Report
A strong yet brief hurricane rolled through the city of Kharkov during a two-day stretch of intense Ukrainian weather. The storms brought heavy rains, winds and hail along with high frequencies of lightning to Western Ukraine.
Earth Networks radar alternative recorded 51-64mm of rain in the city of Kharkov during the 48-hour stretch of severe weather. Some areas to the south of the city received even more rain. The areas of red in the image below indicate over 127mm of rain fell during that time period!
Hurricane Damage
In Kharkov, heavy winds and rains knocked down 95 trees. In addition, approximately 350 large branches fell around Kharkov as a result of the hurricane on 18 July.
The Main Department of State Emergency Services of Ukraine reported that over 15 settlements in five districts of the region lost power as a result of the storm. They also reported that that storm zapped power from 60 private homes and four high-rise buildings.
Lightning Death
The two-day stretch of stormy Ukrainian weather was marked by a very high frequency of lightning in Kharkov and the surrounding areas. Earth Networks Total Lightning Network detected 111,617 total lightning strikes combined on 18 and 19 July. The video below shows the path of the lightning tearing through the region. The purple strikes indicate in-cloud lightning while the yellow strikes indicate cloud-to-ground lightning strikes.
[video width="854" height="480" mp4="https://www.earthnetworks.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/10/ukraine-lightning.mp4"][/video]
In-cloud lightning strikes are often indicative of severe weather conditions like cloud-to-ground lightning strikes, microbursts and hail. Tracking in-cloud lightning allows the Earth Networks Team to generate Dangerous Thunderstorm Alerts to warn people of impending severe weather conditions. The lightning detected during the 18th and 19th generated over 100 Dangerous Thunderstorm Alerts in the Kharkov area.
Dangerous Thunderstorm Alerts are represented by the purple polygons. The video below shows the strongest storm cells pushing through Kharkov, accompanied by Dangerous Thunderstorm Alerts.
[video width="854" height="480" mp4="https://www.earthnetworks.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/10/slow-dta.mp4"][/video]
Lightning struck and killed a 20-year old local resident in Odnorobivka village on 18 July 2016. The incident took place at approximately 19:30, around the same time three Dangerous Thunderstorm Alerts took place.
