Analysis of Lightning Parameters and Precipitation Associated with Lightning-Initiated Wildfire in the Contiguous United States

According to a 2019 report from the U.S. National Interagency Fire Center, although lightning was the cause of approximately 15% of all wildfires, these fires consumed an overwhelming 76% of the total burned area. Such fires present greater suppression challenges since they typically ignite in remote, hard-to-access regions, thus impeding prompt firefighting intervention. Compounding factors like strong winds, dense fuel, and the possibility of multiple concurrent ignitions can accelerate fire propagation, making management efforts even more demanding. Gaining a deeper understanding of lightning and environmental parameters’ association with wildfire can offer valuable insights to enhance fire prevention strategies and refine fire management practices.

In our research, we formulated two distinct lightning datasets: 1) Lightning that triggered wildfires, and 2) Lightning that did not result in wildfires. This distinction was achieved by assessing the spatial and temporal proximity of cloud-to-ground lightning, as captured by the Earth Network Total Lightning Network (ENTLN), to each georeferenced wildfire initiated by lightning, as documented by the United States Forest Service (USFS). We then compared the distributions of several lightning parameters, such as stroke multiplicity, peak current, and ground-flash density for both sets of lightning data. Additionally, precipitation estimates at different time scales from the Multi-Radar Multi-Sensor (MRMS) project managed by the NOAA National Severe Storms Laboratory were compared for the two lightning datasets.

Preliminary findings indicate that the distributions of 2-minute and 1-hour precipitation differ statistically between lightning that led to wildfires and those that didn't. Conversely, the lightning parameters across both datasets exhibit analogous distributions.