weather

This might be the last few links I share regarding the heatwave as it's finally over. The heatwave gave way to a thunderstorm over the weekend, which "registered more than 300,000 electrical dishcharges" on Saturday night, that number is "exceptionally high" as thunderstorms rarely reach more than 100,000 electrical discharges, NL Times reports.

As the heat subsides, NS is working to bring trains back to service but reduced service is still expected on Monday and Tuesday. The thunderstorm caused disruption to passenger service but also prevented some trains from moving to the workshop for repairs. ProRail provided updates on repair works done to the track after the thunderstorm that prohibited train traffic between Gouda and Rotterdam, and Gouda and Den Haag. They also commented that there were other small and large disruptions throughout the country that were also being worked on. ProRail did write about the increased thunderstorms in the summer, their effects to the infrastructure and what preventative measures were in place.

Problems with the heat and the railway continue in the Netherlands.

• A rail birdge in Zeeland, between Goes and Middelburg, taken out of service. NS has deployed rail-replacement busses on this route. ProRail is looking to complete repairs by Friday.
• Arriva started seeing issues with their equipment on Wednesay and stopped service between Zutphen and Oldenzaal on Thursday. Service is expected to resume on Friday. Rail-replacement buses have been organized.
• Arriva has also stopped service between Arnehm and Doetinchem on Thursday and Friday. Rail-replacement buses have been organized.

According to Treinenweb.nl NS will continue their adjusted timetable until Saturday with fewer double-decker trains (VIRM and DDZ) will be used as they are most vulnerable to the heat.

This last one is not from the linked article but also related, the tram service in Utrecht has stopped from Thursday afternoon beacuse of equipment failures.

I came across Meteologix, which provides a large range of weather related maps, from a post on Mastodon by Karl. The forecast has a number of models with customisable visuals, current obersvations, satellite scans, there's a lot to explore.

Part of the project Blitzortung.org, Lightning Maps plots a lightning strike by detecting electromagnetic discharges through a community of over 6000 stations across the world. You're able to build and setup your own station for roughly 250 euros and join the network.

I discovered this through Matt Webb's blog where they list a few other interesting maps.

On May 18, 2025, the OTUS [Observations of Tornadoes by UAV Systems] project used specially designed drones to collect scientific data inside of a tornado near Arnett, OK. This was our second drone intercept of the day. OTUS has an FAA-approved waiver to fly drones in tornadoes.

This is the first of four videos currently uploaded to their YouTube channel, all of which are impressive. Their Bluesky has a few more posts.

This was discovered through Tom Scott's Newsletter.