Lightning Characteristics near QLCS Mesovortices during the PERiLS Campaign

The detection of tonadic mesovortices in Quasi-linear Convective Systems (QLCSs) are difficult for forecasters to identify, having worse detection rates and lead times compared to those in supercells. Radar signatures such as KDP drops, low and mid-level KDP cores, and ZDR cores can key forecasters in on the possible location of a developing QLCS mesovortex. Like radar, lightning can help to infer the evolution of microphysical properties and kinematics present within intensifying storms. The location and altitude of flash initiations follow the evolution of the updraft through the mixed-phase regions of a storm. Similarly, lightning features such as increased flash rates and lightning holes, a void of lightning production and propagation, often precede the onset of severe hazards and the presence of a strong mesovortex respectively. These features have been widely studied in supercells, however few studies have examined these features in the context of QLCS mesovortices. The Propagation, Evolution, and Rotation in Linear Storms (PERiLS) campaign gave us the ability to examine lightning in QLCSs with the deployment of a mobile Lightning Mapping Array (LMA) by the National Severe Storms Lab. The mobile LMA sampled the total lightning during four convective events in 2022, including tornadic QLCSs and preceding convection. In this study, we will combine the mobile LMA dataset with WSR-88D radar during these cases to demonstrate the evolution of flash production before and during QLCS mesovortices as well as identifying when, where, and how often the aforementioned lightning features occur in relation to the aforementioned radar signatures and mesovortex.