Why does alaska have thunder and Lightning storms??
Alaska DOES have thunder/lighting storms, but primarily in Interior Alaska, such as around Fairbanks. For a thunderstorm, you need heat (>70F, >80 better yet) and moisture. Hence the southeast US with lots of heat and moisture, gets lots of afternoon thunderstorms. Most Alaskan cities (Anchorage, Juneau, Kodiak, Homer, Seward, Valdez, Ketchikan, etc) are coastal and our sea water is very cold so we rarely get over 70F and almost never get over 80F. Hence we get a few thunderstorms (I’ve seen lighting from my house), but rarely. But Fairbanks, 250 miles from any ocean, gets to 90F in those 22-hour long summer days and occasionally a bit hotter. Most of the numerous and large forest fires each summer in Interior Alaska (and neighboring Yukon and Northern BC) are started from lighting. I’ve never come up the Alaskan Highway in summer without seeing numerous lighting-sparked forest fires along the way.
