European cold season lightning map for wind turbines based on radio soundings

Stucke

Simon

et al. 2021

Preprint

Abstract. Lightning in winter (December, January, February, DJF) is rare compared to lightning in summer (June, July, August, JJA) in central Europe. The conventional explanation attributes the scarcity of winter lightning to seasonally low values of variables that create favorable conditions in summer. Here we systematically examine whether different meteorological processes are at play in winter. We use cluster analysis and principal component analysis and find physically meaningful groups in ERA5 atmospheric reanalysis data and lightning data for northern Germany. Two sets of conditions emerged: Wind-field-dominated and mass-field (temperature) dominated lightning conditions. Wind-field type lightning is characterized by increased wind speeds, high cloud shear, large dissipation of kinetic energy in the boundary layer, and moderate temperatures. Clouds are close to the ground and a relatively large fraction of the clouds is warmer than −10 °C. Mass-field type lightning is characterized by increased convective available potential energy (CAPE), the presence of convective inhibition (CIN), high temperatures, and accompanying large amounts of water vapor. Large amounts of cloud-physics variables related to charge separation such as ice particles and solid hydrometeors further differentiate both mass-field and wind-field lightning. Winter lightning is wind-field driven whereas in summer lightning is mostly mass-field driven with a small fraction of cases being wind-field driven. Consequently, typical weather situations for wind-field lightning in the study area in northern Germany are strong westerlies with embedded cyclones. For mass-field lightning, the area is typically on the anticyclonic side of a southwesterly jet.

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Differentiating lightning in winter and summer with characteristics of wind-field and mass-field

Stucke

Simon

et al. 2021

Preprint

“…The general lightning pattern in Europe is well described in various climatologies (e.g., Taszarek et al, 2019;Enno et al, 2020;Poelman et al, 2016;Wapler, 2013;Taszarek et al, 2020a, b;Mäkelä et al, 2014;Vogel et al, 2016;Ukkonen and Mäkelä, 2019;Simon et al, 2017;Kotroni and Lagouvardos, 2016;Piper and Kunz, 2017;Anderson and Klugmann, 2014;Hayward et al, 2022;Holt et al, 2001;Enno et al, 2013;Poelman, 2014;Taszarek et al, 2015;Schulz et al, 2005;Coquillat et al, 2022;Manzato et al, 2022;Simon and Mayr, 2022). There is a north-south gradient of lightning frequency with a maximum in northern Italy and the Mediterranean.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 93%

“…Numerous lightning climatologies are available, but many focus on the dominant characteristics and seasons, while infrequent thunderstorm conditions are often neglected. Thunderstorms during the cold season are generally rare but pose a serious threat to wind turbines and other tall structures because it has been observed that lightning strikes to tall infrastructure have no or only a weak annual cycle, whereas lightning in general has a pronounced annual cycle (Stucke et al, 2022;Matsui et al, 2020;Vogel et al, 2016). This study describes thunderstorm environments occurring in Europe using a balanced view of all four seasons to also include seasonally infrequent thunderstorm conditions.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…In general, the European lightning patterns are well described (e.g., Wapler and James, 2015;Enno et al, 2014), but the meteorological drivers leading to lightning in the winter compared to summer are less understood. High structures such as wind turbines or radio towers increase the occurrence of lightning (March et al, 2016), especially in the cold season (Vogel et al, 2016;Pineda et al, 2018), so that lightning damage to infrastructure is evenly distributed over the year even though lightning observations in the surroundings have a strong annual cycle (Stucke et al, 2022).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Thunderstorm environments in Europe

Stucke

Mayr

et al. 2023

Weather Clim. Dynam.

Abstract. Meteorological environments favorable for thunderstorms are studied across Europe, including rare thunderstorm conditions from seasons with climatologically few thunderstorms. Using cluster analysis on ERA5 reanalysis data and EUCLID (European Cooperation for Lightning Detection) lightning data, two major thunderstorm environments are found: wind-field thunderstorms, characterized by increased wind speeds, high shear, strong large-scale vertical velocities, and low CAPE values compared to other thunderstorms in the same region, and mass-field thunderstorms, characterized by large CAPE values, high dew point temperatures, and elevated isotherm heights. Wind-field thunderstorms occur mainly in winter and more over the seas, while mass-field thunderstorms occur more frequently in summer and over the European mainland. Several sub-environments of these two major thunderstorm environments exist. Principal component analysis is used to identify four topographically distinct regions in Europe that share similar thunderstorm characteristics: the Mediterranean, Alpine–central, continental, and coastal regions, respectively. Based on these results it is possible to differentiate lightning conditions in different seasons from coarse reanalysis data without a static threshold or a seasonal criterion.

“…Most of continental Europe experiences 20 − 40 thunderstorm days annually, but the mountain ranges in southern Europe have thunderstorm frequencies of > 60 thunderstorm days per year. High structures, such as wind turbines or radio towers increase the occurrence of lightning (March et al, 2016), especially in the cold season (Vogel et al, 2016;Pineda et al, 2018) so that lightning damage to infrastructure is evenly distributed over the year even though lightning occurrence in the surroundings has a strong annual cycle (Stucke et al, 2022). Helicopter-triggered lightning in the North Sea occurs very often in the cold season (Wilkinson et al, 2013).…”

mentioning

confidence: 99%

Thunderstorm Types in Europe

Stucke²,

Mayr³

et al. 2023

Preprint

Abstract. Lightning characteristics in all seasons are investigated across Europe because it is observed that lightning strikes to tall infrastructure have no or only a weak annual cycle whereas lightning in general has a pronounced annual cycle. Using cluster analysis on ERA5 reanalysis data and EUCLID lightning data, two major thunderstorm types are found: Wind-field thunderstorms characterized by increased wind speeds, strong updrafts, and high shear occurring mainly in winter. And mass-field thunderstorms characterized by increased mass-field variables such as large CAPE values, high dewpoint temperatures, and elevated isotherm heights, occurring mostly in summer. Several sub-types of these two main thunderstorm types exist. Using principal component analysis, four topographically distinct regions in Europe are identified that share similar thunderstorm characteristics: The mediterranean, alpine-central, continental, and coastal regions, respectively. Based on these results it is possible to differentiate lightning in different seasons without a static threshold or a seasonal criterion.