Costa Rica sees increase in lightning strikes, experts blame El Niño

(Illustrative / Wikimedia Commons)

July 28^th, 2015 (ICR News) Costa Rica has witnessed a significant increase in recorded lightning strikes during June and July, according to sensors belonging to the Costa Rican Electricity Institute (ICE), and experts there believe the cause is the weather phenomenon known as El Niño.

A total of 310,000 lightning strikes were recorded by a series nine sensors operated by ICE so far this year, though activity has increase since June.

Experts said that increased and abnormal rainfall in the Caribbean region of the country since last month has produced increased lightning activity as the moisture reaches more central, mountainous areas of the country to create lightning-producing clouds and weather systems that then flow westwards.

Experts are blaming the unusual Caribbean rainfall on El Niño.

Since June, the areas that have witnessed the greatest increase in lightning strikes have been in the western Central Valley, especially Orotina, La Guacima, and Esparza, as well as the Central Pacific coast.

Lightning in these areas has led to some failures in ICE’s power grid over the last two months, damaging transmission and distribution lines as well as some substations.

Extreme rainfall last month in the Caribbean province of Limon left hundreds of people displaced and forced President Luis Guillermo Solis to declare a state of emergency.