Meteorologist Kjell Lund explains that there are different ways to count lightning strikes.
– If you include all lightning, even those that occur between clouds, there have been a total of 73,000 strikes in Västerbotten this year. But regardless of how you measure it, it's about twice as much as normal, he tells Norran.
The reason for the many thunderstorms is weather fluctuations. According to SMHI, the increased frequency of thunderstorms can be linked to higher temperatures and more moisture in the air, which creates unstable atmospheric conditions where lightning strikes are more likely to occur.
SMHI has issued warnings for cloudburst-like rain, high temperatures, and thunderstorms on several occasions this summer, sometimes even at an orange or red alert level.
One of the most intense storms came this month when over 15,000 lightning strikes were recorded in a short period. The storm knocked out power for thousands of households and caused signal failures that stopped train traffic along the Norrland coast.