Winter thunderstorms in central Europe in the past and the present

Munzar, Jan; Franc, Marek

doi:10.1016/s0169-8095(03)00062-0

Cited by 9 publications

(4 citation statements)

References 1 publication

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“…Winter thunderstorms are very rare in Central Europe and if they occur they are usually related to passages of pronounced cold fronts (Munzar and Franc, 2003), which is the case of our study. This study focuses on a winter thunderstorm which occurred on 4 February 2022, and hit the Milešovka meteorological observatory, which is located in Central Europe.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 52%

Observations and modelling of the winter thunderstorm on 4 February 2022 at the Milešovka meteorological observatory

Popová,

Sokol,

Wang

et al. 2023

Quart J Royal Meteoro Soc

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The study analyses a winter thunderstorm that passed over the Milešovka meteorological observatory on 4 February 2022, between 2300 and 2330 UTC. Lightning was recorded directly over the observatory by both the observer and the EUCLID lightning network at 2320 UTC. To analyse the state of the atmosphere at the time when the lightning occurred, we used data from the X‐band Doppler polarimetric radar and the Ka‐band Doppler polarimetric vertical profiler, both located at the observatory. We also applied data from the Meteosat Second Generation satellite, and data from standard meteorological instruments located at the observatory. In addition, we run our cloud electrification model to simulate cloud electrification of the winter thunderstorm to find out whether the model develops conditions suitable for the occurrence of lightning and if so, under what circumstances. Our results show that the lightning appeared at the very end of the storm passage defined by high radar reflectivity. At the same time, it is clear from the radar observations that before lightning occurred, the cloud contained hydrometeors (graupel, cloud or rain water, and ice or snow) which are commonly associated with charge separation by collisions. Our analysis of the radar data also suggests that in at least several parts of the cloud the electric field was strong. Although the cloud top height was very low compared to summer storms, the model results indicate conditions suitable for lightning occurrence. However, uncertainty remains on how to properly formulate the initial conditions for model simulations for this type of storm which was shallow and occurs rarely in winter.

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Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 52%

Observations and modelling of the winter thunderstorm on 4 February 2022 at the Milešovka meteorological observatory

Popová,

Sokol,

Wang

et al. 2023

Quart J Royal Meteoro Soc

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“…Table 1 provides a summary of strengths and weaknesses of the main dataset types discussed below. Figure 2 provides a checklist of issues to consider when choosing an in that it relies on human observation, but it does not necessarily form part of an organised network and may take many different forms such as academic papers (Gray and Marshall, 1998), newspaper articles and historical diaries (Munzar and Franc, 2003). This kind of data can help verify other observations or extend records back in time 55 but can also suffer from sporadic coverage in both time and space as well as being difficult to consistently gather and classify.…”

Section: Datamentioning

confidence: 99%

Review Article: A comprehensive review of datasets and methodologies employed to produce thunderstorm climatologies

Hayward¹,

Whitworth²,

Pepin³

et al. 2020

Preprint

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Abstract. Thunderstorm and lightning climatological research is conducted with a view to increasing knowledge about the distribution of thunderstorm related hazards and to gain an understanding of environmental factors increasing or decreasing their frequency. There are three main methodologies used in the construction of thunderstorm climatologies; thunderstorm frequency, thunderstorm tracking or lightning flash density. These approaches utilise a wide variety of underpinning datasets and employ many different methods ranging from correlations with potential influencing factors and mapping the distribution of thunderstorm day frequencies, to tracking individual thunderstorm cell movements. Meanwhile, lightning flash density climatologies are produced using lightning data alone and these studies therefore follow a more standardised format. Whilst lightning flash density climatologies are primarily concerned with the occurrence of cloud to ground lightning, the occurrence of any form of lightning confirms the presence of a thunderstorm and can therefore be used in the compilation of a thunderstorm climatology. Regardless of approach, the choice of analysis method is heavily influenced by dataset coverage, quality and the controlling factors under investigation. The issues investigated must also reflect the needs of the end use application to ensure that the results can be used effectively to reduce exposure to hazard, improve forecasting or enhance climatological understanding.

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“…The type of data recorded can include thunder heard, lightning seen, thunderstorm cell movement and severe weather observations. Archive data are similar to spotter networks in that they rely on human observation, but it does not necessarily form part of an organised network and may take many different forms such as academic papers (Gray and Marshall, 1998), newspaper articles and historical diaries (Munzar and Franc, 2003). This kind of data can help verify other observations or extend records back in time but can also suffer from sporadic coverage in both time and space as well as being difficult to consistently gather and classify (Schuster et al, 2005).…”

Section: Manual Records: Spotter Network and Archivesmentioning

confidence: 99%

Review article: A comprehensive review of datasets and methodologies employed to produce thunderstorm climatologies

Hayward

Whitworth

Pepin

et al. 2020

Nat. Hazards Earth Syst. Sci.

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Abstract. Thunderstorm and lightning climatological research is conducted with a view to increasing knowledge about the distribution of thunderstorm-related hazards and to gain an understanding of environmental factors increasing or decreasing their frequency. There are three main methodologies used in the construction of thunderstorm climatologies: thunderstorm frequency, thunderstorm tracking or lightning flash density. These approaches utilise a wide variety of underpinning datasets and employ many different methods ranging from correlations with potential influencing factors and mapping the distribution of thunderstorm day frequencies to tracking individual thunderstorm cell movements. Meanwhile, lightning flash density climatologies are produced using lightning data alone, and these studies therefore follow a more standardised format. Whilst lightning flash density climatologies are primarily concerned with the occurrence of cloud-to-ground lightning, the occurrence of any form of lightning confirms the presence of a thunderstorm and can therefore be used in the compilation of a thunderstorm climatology. Regardless of approach, the choice of analysis method is heavily influenced by the coverage and quality (detection efficiency and location accuracy) of available datasets as well as by the controlling factors which are under investigation. The issues investigated must also reflect the needs of the end-use application to ensure that the results can be used effectively to reduce exposure to hazard, improve forecasting or enhance climatological understanding.

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Winter thunderstorms in central Europe in the past and the present

Cited by 9 publications

References 1 publication

Observations and modelling of the winter thunderstorm on 4 February 2022 at the Milešovka meteorological observatory

Observations and modelling of the winter thunderstorm on 4 February 2022 at the Milešovka meteorological observatory

Review Article: A comprehensive review of datasets and methodologies employed to produce thunderstorm climatologies

Review article: A comprehensive review of datasets and methodologies employed to produce thunderstorm climatologies

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