Over 36 thousand lightnings in 13 hours, nine people dead.

The southern Indian region of Andhra Pradesh has recorded 36,749 lightning strikes in a period of 13 hours Tuesday, officials quoted by the BBC said.

The number is extremely high and is the result of extreme weather patterns”, according to the authority of state disaster management.

Nine people, including a nine-year-old girl, have been killed in the country in lightning attacks since Tuesday.

The dangers of lightning are common in India during heavy Muston rains.

The season usually starts in June and lasts until September. However, this region usually sees increased lightning activity before the start of the muson, said Kishan Sanku, who heads the state emergency centre.

Tuesday's cases are considered anomalies because data from last year shows there have been about 30,000 lightning strikes throughout May in the same region.

Some scientists believe that global warming will significantly increase the frequency of lightning strikes.

Why is there so much lightning?

Thunder strikes have taken place along the northern coast of Andhra Pradesh, an area that often experiences heavy rains.

Although lightning activity has usually increased in the region prior to the Muston this year, cold winds from the Arab Sea slammed into warm winds from northern India and created conditions that led to cloud formation more than usual, Sanku said.

This increased the chances of lightning strikes.

What has made conditions especially unique, he added, is that cloud coverage has extended over 200km.

“Zacon is about 15-16km,” he said. “In our experience, this is very rare”.