Volcanic Lightning and the Book of Mormon

In 3 Nephi 8, tempests, a “great storm,” earthquakes, fires, whirlwinds, and physical upheavals attest the crucifixion of Christ, and darkness covers the land for three days.  Cities are covered over by water and buried beneath landslides.

Isn’t this a bit melodramatic?  Did Joseph Smith overdo it?  Did he get carried away with his tall tales?

Several serious students of the Book of Mormon have suggested volcanism as a plausible cause for such phenomena as these.  Volcanic activity can easily be connected with earthquakes and fires, as also with physical upheavals and, through ash clouds and “vog,” with darkness.

But what about those “tempests”?  What about that “terrible thunder . . . that . . . did shake the whole earth as if it was about to divide asunder”? What about those “exceedingly sharp lightnings, such as never had been known in all the land”?

Those, too, can be produced by volcanic activity.

Here’s an interesting article on the topic of volcano-generated lightning, brought to my attention by Mike Parker:

http://io9.com/volcanic-lightning-how-does-it-work-459806533