I’ve been in a few thunderstorms here in NYS that have been the same.
The one was what was called a derecho that hit one August here in CNY and killed a few people.
The lightning was like a strobe light. The power went out immediately when it hit and we didn’t need the candles until after the storm had passed. The lightning was so constant that it provided all the light we needed to run around and close all the windows so it wouldn’t rain in the house.
It was exciting and terrifying all at the same time.
There were others, but that was by far and away the worst.
I was just gonna say!
I watched that one develop, August 1999.
Our living room window faced east, and for three or four minutes before the rain hit, there were hundreds of lighting bolts hitting out over the towns to our east and south; at one point, they were coming at the rate of many per second. I'm sure that more than a thousand were visible before the rain started, and they didn't stop then, they were just not directly visible.
Once the rain started, our living room window appeared to be looking out on a solid waterfall, much more intense than what you see going through a drive-through car wash.