The eruption of the underwater Polynesian volcano Hunga-Tonga-Hunga-Haapai provoked the formation of the so-called dirty thunderstorm with a record number of volcanic lightning. Observers recorded nearly 600,000 lightning strikes between January 13 and 15, far exceeding the previous largest event of its kind, the Anak Krakatau eruption in Indonesia in 2018. Based on data from the global lightning detection network, scientists have created a visual animation of this phenomenon, according to the Daily Mail.
The ash cloud ejected from the underwater eruption has been photographed by many satellites and International Space Station astronauts. But an underwater volcano off the coast of Tonga not only caused record ash emissions, but also led to the beginning of the largest dirty dust storm. According to GLD360, the ground-based global lightning detection network, the eruption triggered 590,000 lightning strikes, and it is "unlike anything else on record." Only at six o'clock on January 15, there were almost 400,000 volcanic lightning strikes. According to GLD360 data, about 56% of Tonga's lightning hit the surface of the earth or the surrounding ocean waters, including 1,300 strikes on the kingdom's largest island, Tongatapu. The remaining 44% of lightning strikes probably did not go beyond the dust cloud.
“I can’t imagine what people on the islands had to go through when a huge cloud of ash spread over their heads, a tsunami flooded the coast, and lightning flashed continuously. It must have looked apocalyptic,” says meteorologist Chis Wagaski. “During the Anak Krakatoa eruption in December 2018, we recorded about 340,000 such events in a weekly period, so registering almost 400,000 in just a few hours is extraordinary.”
Although volcanic lightning and ordinary thunderstorms are based on different atmospheric aerosols, these phenomena are brought together by a common mechanism formation of a potential difference - as a result of friction and the appearance of clusters of charged particles, electrons and ions. When such vast accumulations of positive and negative charges form in the atmosphere, sooner or later a breakdown occurs between them, an ionized channel is formed, into which particle flows rush.
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