Metro Vancouverites were treated to a spellbinding display by Mother Nature on Wednesday, March 27.
Environment Canada meteorologist Armel Castellan told V.I.A. that there were 61 lightning strikes in the Canadian airspace over Metro Vancouver.
The rare display was thanks partly to a mix of a cold upper atmosphere with a ground surface warmed by significant daytime sun.
Local Miss Marcia commented in a post on X, formerly Twitter, "Holy cow the thunder and lightning right above our house again. Bigger than a few weeks ago when I commented before. This was more crazy."
Metro Vancouverite Victör Sum wrote, "Holy thunder and lightning Batman!" while Nicole said, "I swear the lightning hit my building here on Main Street."
New Westminster resident Braden McMillan said, "That was a startling random blast of lightning."
Zachary C noted that it was a rare day for the coast and shared a pair of satellite loops showing how the storm activity impacted northwest Washington and Metro Vancouver. The second one shows a "bomb cyclone offshore" that was partly responsible for the electric event.
Locals share video of wild Metro Vancouver weather with thunderstorms
Local weather enthusiast Ryan Voutilainen showed "some very interesting storm and boundary interactions this evening over the Salish Sea."
He also shared a video with the sound of rumbling thunder for over 20 seconds after a lightning strike in Metro Vancouver.
Voutilainen also shared a video of torrential rain in Queen Elizabeth Park that appeared to have ice mixed in with that rain. He noted it indicated a "cold and unstable airmass above us."
Brad shared images on X of "before, during, and after" several thunderstorms rolled across the Vancouver waterfront on Wednesday evening.
Other people shared video of the torrential downpour.
Some local pets weren't pleased about Mother Nature's noisy display.
Michael Snyder shared a video of a plane just below the clouds that was hit by lightning just outside of the Seattle International Airport (SEA) just before 5 p.m.
Stay up-to-date with hyperlocal forecasts across 50 neighbourhoods in the Lower Mainland with V.I.A.'s Weatherhood.
