The instrumental continuous monitoring of lightning activity in Yakutia has been carried by the lightning direction finder since the 2000s. Devices for detection of sferic (very low frequency radio pulses emitted by lightning discharges) in Yakutia were supplemented in 2009 with relatively short-range (effective detection radius up to 480 km) single-point Stormtracker and LD-250 direction finders from Boltek Corporation (Welland, ON, Canada). The Stormtracker gives a slightly overestimated ratio of CG strokes due to the amplitude threshold of a single-point direction finder, but the device has not changed over the years, which allows for the consideration of the annual dynamics of parameters. In 2009, a sensor in Yakutsk was included in the World Wide Lightning Location Network (WWLLN). The seasonal and diurnal variations of the total lightning stroke number in the central part and the entire area of Yakutia were obtained (up to 1200 km in radius and limited by latitude–longitude boundaries of 105–150° E, 55–75° N). The longest thunderstorm seasons are often observed in the southern part of Yakutia. There was a slight increase in the duration of the thunderstorm season until 2015 in the central part of Yakutia. The interannual variations in the total number of lightning strokes showed periodic fluctuations (with a period of about three years) over the whole area of Yakutia. The periods of high lightning activity shifted within a season from year to year, as revealed by the monthly stroke number variation. Thus, the maximum lightning rate occurred at the beginning of summer, in the middle or at the beginning of August, and had a period of about three years. Every summer, there were 2–3 periods of high lightning activity, resulting from the moving average with a two-week window (according to the longest duration of cyclones). If the periods of high lightning activity shifted toward the beginning of summer, a decrease in the number of days between seasonal peaks was observed. If the maximum shifted to the beginning of August, the number of days between peaks increased. The ratio of cloud-to-ground (CG) lightning strokes and the ratio of negative CG strokes was slightly decreasing by 2015 in the central part of Yakutia.

The variation of lightning strokes number in Yakutia were found to depend on the atmospheric blocking forming in Western Siberia. The correlation between total summer lightning stroke number in area of 1200 km radius around Yakutsk and frequency of atmospheric blocking in July at longitude of 70±5°E (Western Siberia) was -0.8. The total lightning number in Yakutia 1200-km radius area correlated with frequency of atmospheric blocking in July at longitude of 125±5°E (valley of Amur and Sungari Rivers) with coefficient of 0.56. The interannual variation of total lightning stroke number in Central Yakutia has been found to be linearly related to lightning activity in the eastern part of North Asia (valley of Amur and Sungari Rivers) of monsoon origin.

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The days with large number of lightning discharges in Yakutia and its central part were associated with atmospheric circulation types classified by method of B.L. Dzerdzeevskii. The daily lightning number was obtained by three lightning location systems detecting radiopulses of very low frequency radiated by lightning discharges. The days with intense thunderstorms were selected by the 0.7 level of maximum lightning number in summer season, and the days of minimum lightning activity were selected by 0.3 level of maximum. The elementary circulation mechanisms (ECM) were revealed for severe thunderstorms in Yakutia: ECM 8a, 8dw, 9a, 12a of north meridional circulation group, ECM 13s of south meridional circulation, ECM 2b of zonal circulation and ECM 3 of the disturbace of zonal circulation. Generally, the intense thunderstorms were associated with cyclones of southern outlets of Far East summer monsoon and outlets moving from southwestern.