Thunderstorms in Northern Alaska over sea ice on Monday sparked rare lightning strikes. The Washington Post reported lightning strikes occurred north of Prudhoe Bay, directly over sea ice, a rare phenomena that occurs once or twice a decade.

In a single decade, summer lightning tripled across the Arctic, a change directly attributed to rapid Arctic warming, a new scientific paper reports. “Now that we have Arctic warming, you can really get a lot more of the optimal conditions for thunderstorms,” said Robert Holzworth, a University of Washington professor emeritus of Earth and space

Some rather peculiar weather over the weekend struck 300 miles from the North Pole. Here’s why that may be the new normal.

Lightning is unusual in a city that, according to the National Weather Service, sees fewer than two thunderstorms a year. It was the first time the power company had seen a lightning-related power outage in 15 years.

Nome experienced 2 lightning strikes and thunder Monday morning during a snow squall.A

Residents were amazed to see lightning actually arching down to the ground.