June Storms Bring Lots of Lightning
Severe storms worked their way through a large part of northern Colombia on 9 and 10 June, 2016. Earth Networks Total Lightning Network™ detected 29,728 total lightning strikes during a 12-hour period on Thursday and an additional 41,475 total lightning strikes during a 12-hour period on Friday.
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The high frequency of lightning—over 70,000 strikes in just 24 hours—prompted 23 Dangerous Thunderstorm Alerts (DTA's), a unique severe weather warning exclusive to Earth Networks. The DTA’s are shown in the below image as purple polygons.
In-cloud lightning strikes generate these alerts that serve as a warning for other forms of severe weather like high wind shear, hail and heavy rains.
Crop Loss
The storm on 10 June hit farmers in Capitanlargo particularly hard when a strong hailstorm lasted over an hour. The prolonged hail killed livestock and destroyed most crops of beans, corn, peas, paprika, passion fruit, avocado, onion, tomato and bananas. One farm alone lost over 3,000 plants of paprika. Farmers from the villages of El Rosario, Paloquemao, El Potrero, La Rojas, Llanitos, Bellavista and Gallinetas lost all of their crops.
Landslide
Heavy rains accompanying the severe storm saturated the ground so badly in Choco that a large landslide occurred. On Friday afternoon, the landslide started between Quibdo and Medellin, killing eight and leaving 30 missing.
The image above, generated by Earth Networks PulseRad℠ (Now available through Sferic Maps) radar alternative, shows the total rainfall for 9 and 10 June. Some areas of northern Colombia received over 127mm of rain in a 24-hour hour period.
This close-up of Choco shows that over 64mm of rain fell in that same 24-hour period in the area of the landslide.
Mobile Alerts
Preparing for these dangerous weather conditions is the only way to prepare for them and protect yourself from them. Earth Networks Sferic Mobile allows you to take the power of our weather observation and warning technologies on-the-go.
