More thunder and lightning on the way for northeastern Ontario

All that heat and humidity we've been having is not going away anytime soon.

Our region is solidly stuck in what meteorologists are calling "a blocking pattern."

And that makes the conditions ripe for more thunderstorms like we had over the weekend.

"Our models are showing continued warmth and humidity, so we're likely to see more thunder-boomers than fewer," said David Phillips, senior climatologist with Environment Canada.

Phillips says July is prime time for thunder and lightning. The Sudbury region gets, on average, about 22 days with thunderstorms each year — and about 4,400 cloud-to-ground lightning flashes as well.

These July thunderstorms are also encouraged by our growing season, Phillips said.

"As the crops grow ... and as the forests grow ... they're transpiring. It adds more local humidity. So it's not just from distant sources, but you add your own humidity and you get these thunder boomers that occur."

He noted that people are often scared of thunder but not the lightning — but that fear should be reserved for the latter.

"Thunder is the the bark, but lightning is the bite," Phillips said. "Thunderstorms can be dazzling and deadly."

When distant lightning occurs, people should be thinking about where their safe haven is and where they should go if they are outside, he added.

In Canada, there are at least a dozen people who die from from lightning strikes, "and maybe 10 times that number are injured — just being outdoors, where they shouldn't be, under the threat of lightning."

Phillips said more people are killed by lightning after a storm departs than when the eye of the storm hits.

"People get relaxed when the storm is over," he said. "So we often say to people, 'wait 30 minutes after you hear your last peal of thunder, when you see your last lightning bolt ... before you resume your particular activity' (outside)."

The lightning capital of Canada is Windsor, Ont. The border city gets about 35 thunderstorm days a year — and about 12,000 lightning strikes a year.

Phillips added the world record holder for lightning strikes is Tampa Bay, Fla., where they can get a lightning strike almost every third day.

On the opposite side, he said, there are some parts of Canada, like the high Arctic, that have never witnessed a thunderstorm. And places like Vancouver and Victoria might get three thunderstorm days a year.