Articles | Volume 3, issue 1
https://doi.org/10.5194/wcd-3-361-2022
© Author(s) 2022. This work is distributed under
the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 License.
the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 License.
https://doi.org/10.5194/wcd-3-361-2022
© Author(s) 2022. This work is distributed under
the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 License.
the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 License.
Research article
| 
31 Mar 2022
Research article |
| 31 Mar 2022
| 31 Mar 2022
Differentiating lightning in winter and summer with characteristics of the wind field and mass field
Deborah Morgenstern
CORRESPONDING AUTHOR
Department of Atmospheric and Cryospheric Sciences (ACINN), University of Innsbruck, Innsbruck, Austria
Department of Statistics, University of Innsbruck, Innsbruck, Austria
Isabell Stucke
Department of Atmospheric and Cryospheric Sciences (ACINN), University of Innsbruck, Innsbruck, Austria
Department of Statistics, University of Innsbruck, Innsbruck, Austria
Thorsten Simon
Department of Statistics, University of Innsbruck, Innsbruck, Austria
Georg J. Mayr
Department of Atmospheric and Cryospheric Sciences (ACINN), University of Innsbruck, Innsbruck, Austria
Achim Zeileis
Department of Statistics, University of Innsbruck, Innsbruck, Austria
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Short summary
Wintertime lightning in central Europe is rare but has a large damage potential for tall structures such as wind turbines. We use a data-driven approach to explain why it even occurs when the meteorological processes causing thunderstorms in summer are absent. In summer, with strong solar input, thunderclouds have a large vertical extent, whereas in winter, thunderclouds are shallower in the vertical but tilted and elongated in the horizontal by strong winds that increase with altitude.
Wintertime lightning in central Europe is rare but has a large damage potential for tall...
