engleski

Lightning characteristics during hailstorms

Lightning characteristics were studied in the hail-producing storms over Croatia during summer months 2008 to 2012, in order to determine typical behavior of lightning that could be used in hail nowcast. Lightning distribution was compared to hail occurrences registered at the hail polygon covering an area of ~600 km2 located in the northwest Croatia. During the hailstorms lifetime lightning characteristics such as type, polarity, height of IC lightning strokes and mean current amplitudes were followed along the track of the hailstorm and compared to physical properties of the hail on the ground. The results showed that in the majority of the cases the frequency of total lightning strokes increases shortly before hail occurrence while at the beginning of hailfall the number of total lightning strokes briefly decreases. Additionally, the largest values of mean current for both CG+ and CG- as well as for IC strokes are detected before hailfall, being rather low during hailfall. The average height of IC strokes slightly increases before and decreases during hailfall, especially in cases with large hail.

lightning, hail, convection, nowcasting

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