1,700 Lightning Strikes Hit Palm Beach County On Tuesday
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WEST PALM BEACH (CBSMiami/AP) — An estimated 1,700 lightning bolts crashed in a two-hour period as storms moved across Palm Beach County, the National Weather Service says.
Meteorologist Robert Molleda told the Palm Beach Post Tuesday's lightning show was of a magnitude seen only a few times annually.
During the duration of Tuesday's storms, some 2,500 lightning strikes were measured in the county.
A lightning strike knocked three Boca Raton firefighters off their feet as they put out a backyard fire that had been ignited by a previous bolt. One of the firefighters was flung about 15 to 20 feet, and began having a seizure. The other two remained conscious. All three have recovered.
Florida ranks tops nationally for the number of cloud-to-ground strikes per square mile, with 1.2 million bolts per year.
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