PHOTOS: The Seattle area may be one of the least thunderstormy places in the nation, but even our occasional thunderstorms can pack a punch.
Stop laughing, Midwest.
The National Weather Service office in Seattle estimated that about 20-30 cloud-to-ground total lightning strikes were detected amid a few thunderstorms that roamed across Western Washington Thursday afternoon, including cells on near the coast and in Lewis County, in addition to some reported strikes near Tacoma and along the SR-167/I-405 corridor in Pierce and King County. Thunderstorms in the Midwest can toss out that many strikes in minutes if not seconds.
Yet it only took one strike to cause a mess in Federal Way.