Investigation of Lightning Patterns Over New Jersey and Surrounding Area
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Transcript of Investigation of Lightning Patterns Over New Jersey and Surrounding Area
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Investigation of Lightning Patterns Over New Jersey and Surrounding Area
Al CopeNational Weather Service
Mount Holly, NJ
Adam GonsiewskiMillersville University
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Introduction• Research on lightning patterns in New Jersey and surrounding
areas, with a focus on the summertime months of June, July, and August, was conducted during the summer of 2010 at the National Weather Service Forecast Office in Mount Holly, New Jersey.
• The goal was to see whether or not lightning had different tendencies across the region based on month, hour of the day, 500 mb flow direction, synoptic regime, and day classification (event, contaminate, or null).
• This work was designed to coincide with a related study on summertime convective initiation over New Jersey, being conducted by NWS Mount Holly and Kean University.
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Procedure1. Obtain CG-Lightning from Vaisala for 2004-08. Extract a subset of lightning
data over the study area.
2. Use spreadsheet program to sort the data by month, hour of the day, upper-air flow, synoptic regime, and day classification (event, contaminate, and null).
3. Create tables and graphs showing lightning distribution by day and time.
4. Write a FORTRAN program to put the data into a 21km x 22km grid array (sort lightning by location).
5. Upload the array output from the FORTRAN program onto www.GPSvisualizer.com in order to produce flash frequency maps.
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The map to the left shows the total summertime lightning strikes from 2004-2008 across the region.
The overall lightning distribution shows a maximum over the Chesapeake Bay region extending north across eastern PA.
There is a minimum in strikes off the coast of New Jersey (due to colder waters?)
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2004 2005 2006 2007 20080
50000
100000
150000
200000
250000
300000
350000
400000
450000
500000Total Lightning Flashes by YearN
umbe
r of F
lash
es
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Jan Feb Mar Apr May Jun Jul Aug Sep Oct Nov Dec0
100000
200000
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400000
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700000
Total Lightning Strikes by Month 2004-2008N
umbe
r of F
lash
es
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Jan Feb Mar Apr May Jun Jul Aug Sep Oct Nov Dec0
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Inter-Annual Flash Variability by Month
2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 Average
Num
ber o
f Fla
shes
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10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 90
50000
100000
150000
200000
250000Total Lightning Flashes by Hour (2004-08)
Beginning Hour (UTC)
Num
ber o
f Fla
shes
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10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 90
2000
4000
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8000
10000
12000
14000
16000Hourly Lightning Frequency
April May June July August September
Hour Beginning (UTC)
Num
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f Fla
shes
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SW W NW Other0
10
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90
100
0
500
1000
1500
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3500
4000
4500
5000Summertime Flashes by 500 hPa Flow
% Days % Flashes Flashes/Day
500 hPa Wind Direction
Perc
ent
Num
ber o
f Fla
shes
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12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 230
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50000Hourly Flashes by 500 hPa Flow and Day Type
SW Event SW Contam W Event W Contam NW Event NW Contam
Hour Beginning (UTC)
Num
ber o
f Fla
shes
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HP LP CF WF SF TROF0
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0
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5000Summertime Flashes by Synoptic Type (12Z-00Z)
% Days % Flashes Flashes/Day
Synoptic Type
Perc
ent
Num
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f Fla
shes
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Daytime T-Storm Trends:SW vs. NW Flow Aloft
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Daytime T-Storm Trends:Cold Front vs. High Pressure
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Conclusions
• Lightning activity peaks in late afternoon (diurnally) and in mid-summer (annually)
• For any given month, large inter-annual variation is possible
• Diurnal maximum becomes earlier from spring into summer
• Half of all summer lightning occurs with SW flow aloft; half is associated with cold fronts
• Diurnal trends vary somewhat with flow aloft and surface synoptic pattern
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Future Work
• Obtain and analyze lightning data from additional years
• Examine diurnal trends past 00Z• Create contoured analyses of flash density
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Acknowledgements
• Lightning data provided by Vaisala (gratis)
THE END