An impressive lightning show lit up the sky in parts of South Florida Monday evening, and left some residents wondering what was happening.
The bursts of flashes in distant clouds that could be seen throughout parts of Broward and Miami-Dade counties is what scientists call “heat lightning.”
According to the National Weather Service, the occurrence is simply light produced by storms too far away to see or to hear its accompanying thunder, which can only be heard for about 10 miles.
Residents across South Florida captured the lightning show in videos posted on social media. For some, the incredible light display resembled scenes from Netlix’s hit show “Stranger Things.”
“I mean, it’s real lightning from real thunderstorms, not produced by ‘heat’,” NBC 6 chief meteorologist John Morales tweeted in response to a viewer’s inquiry about heat lightning. “But in these situations, we don't get the rain or the refreshing feeling of cooler air, and the thunderstorms are very far away.”
The impressive light show produced hundreds of flashes from the distant storms over several minutes, according to the NWS.
