Variations in the electric field and atmospheric current in the surface atmosphere at middle latitudes during 58 strong magnetic storms that occurred from 2016 to 2019 are examined based on instrumental observations made by the Mikhnevo Geophysical Observatory of the Sadovsky Institute of Geosphere Dynamics of Russian Academy of Sciences (MHV). It is shown that geomagnetic disturbances characterized by a station magnetic activity K- index exceeding five are accompanied by changes in the vertical component of the Earth’s electric field. It is found that the changes have different patterns: sometimes a bay-like increase/decrease in the electric field and sometimes a sign-alternating increase in the magnitude of the electric field. In general, the range of electric field variations varies from 5 to 580 V/m. At the same time, magnetic storm periods are characterized by greater atmospheric current variations the magnitude of which goes up to 80 pA/m~(2). The findings presented enrich the database on these phenomena and may be useful in improving existing models of interaction and transformation of geophysical fields as well as in developing new ones.
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