Did you catch it? Hundreds of lightning strikes lit up the city and surrounding suburbs Thursday night.

Thursday was the first time that thunder was recorded during the third week of January since these records were first kept in 1971.

What makes this even more uncommon is that New York City had another thunderstorm just a week prior, on January 12.  That makes two thunderstorm instances already in 2023, which is more than the amount of measurable snow events, which is still at zero. Soft hail, also called graupel, was reported across parts of Long Island.

Loud rumbles of thunder were heard dozens of miles away, thanks to what's called an inversion.  An inversion occurs when colder temperatures at the surface are trapped below warmer temperatures higher up in the sky. Typically, temperatures decrease with higher altitude.  This set-up creates a barrier and basically "traps" the sound of thunder, reflects it back to the surface and then travels farther in the process.

With several more storms in the forecast over the next 10 days, stick with the News 12 Storm Watch Team with the hyperlocal futurecast that will help plan out your day.