Nowhere in Germany did lightning strike so often per square kilometer last year as in Starnberg (Bavaria). There was less lightning in Saxony-Anhalt – but the regions differ significantly.
Magdeburg (dpa/sa) – In Saxony-Anhalt, flashes of lightning were significantly rarer in many regions than in other parts of Germany last year. This emerges from the Blitzatlas published by Siemens on Monday. According to this, in 2021 in Magdeburg and Dessau-Roßlau only 0.27 lightning strikes per square kilometer were recorded, in the Stendal district it was 0.30. The regions are thus among the tail lights in Germany. For comparison: In the district of Starnberg near Munich, 7.6 lightning strikes per square kilometer were registered.
In Saxony-Anhalt, most lightning strikes per square kilometer were recorded in the Burgenland district (1.58), followed by the Salzland district (1.02). Across Germany, the number of lightning strikes rose by almost a quarter to around 491,000 last year. Every eleventh of them struck on June 29th, the most lightning day in Germany. At that time, storms had caused severe damage in parts of the Federal Republic. Overall, more than half of all lightning strikes last year in June.
“Compared to previous years, 2021 was again significantly rainier, but temperatures were still high, especially in June,” explains Stephan Thern, head of Siemens’ lightning information service. “So the basic requirements for thunderstorms – moisture and hot temperatures – were in place to register a significantly more lightning-intensive year.”
Those who are afraid of lightning were best looked after in Solingen (North Rhine-Westphalia) last year. With 0.18 flashes per square kilometer, there were relatively few strikes here. Brandenburg an der Havel with 0.20 and Bremen with 0.26 were also extremely low in lightning in 2021. At the federal state level, Bremen, Saxony-Anhalt and Saarland were the least affected in relation to their size.
In a European comparison, Germany, with its 1.4 lightning strikes per square kilometer, ranks 18th out of 43 countries. The highest lightning densities last year were in Bosnia-Herzegovina, Slovenia and Montenegro. The lowest in Ireland, Norway and the UK.
The lightning is measured with the help of around 160 interconnected measuring stations in Europe. Although there are up to 350 kilometers between the sensors, the lightning strikes can be determined with an accuracy of up to 50 meters.
