Scientists say it is, after lightning struck near the White House, leaving three people dead and one other in critical condition.
(Karine Jean-Pierre, White House Press Secretary) ''And we are praying for those still fighting for their lives."
Let's take a look at why.
The hot, humid conditions in Washington, D.C. on August 4th were primed for electricity.
Air temperatures topped out at 94 degrees Fahrenheit.
That's 5 degrees Fahrenheit higher than the 30-year normal maximum temperature for August 4, according to the National Weather Service.
More heat draws in more moisture into the atmosphere, while also encouraging rapid updraft, two key factors for charged particles, which leads to lightning.
A 2014 study released in the journal Science warned that the number of lightning strikes could increase by 50% in this century in the United States.
It says that 1.8 degree Fahrenheit of warming translates into a 12% rise in the number of lightning strikes.
Fast-warming Alaska has seen a 17% rise in lightning activity since the cooler 1980s.
And in typically dry California, some 14,000 lightning strikes hit during August 2020, sparking some of the state's biggest wildfires on record.
Beyond the United States, there is evidence that lightning strikes are also shooting up in India and Brazil.
Just one day after the White House accident, a lightning strike ignited an oil storage tank at the Matanzas super tanker in Cuba, killing at least one person and injuring more than 100.
Experts say that even as lightning strikes increase, being hit by one is still extremely rare in the U.S.
The Center for Disease Control says roughly 40 million lightning bolts touch down in the country every year, with the odds of being struck less than 1 in a million.
Among those who are hit, about 90% survive the ordeal, the CDC says.
The country counted 444 deaths from lightning strikes from 2006 through 2021.
