Relationships Between Flash Rates and Radiosonde Temperatures in Supercell Environments.

In May of 2024, a student-led research initiative by Millerville Meteorology students, named Project TILTTING (Thermodynamic Investigation into LCL Thresholds during Tornadogenesis and its Influence in the Northeast and Great Plains), deployed to the Southern Great Plains to collect environmental data targeting tornadogenesis. Throughout the two-week period (May 5th - May 19th), members of Project TILTTING gathered observational data including air pressure, temperature, humidity, and wind speed using Windsonds by Sparv Embedded. During observations, one of our student researchers noticed that lightning flash rates visibly appeared to increase while the storm inflow temperature increased. In this study, we compare the relationship between lightning flash rates from the Oklahoma Lightning Mapping Array (OKLMA) with the data collected by Project TILTTING. To accomplish this goal, we use Project TILTTING’s soundings released into the supercell thunderstorms and compare the temperature data with flash extent density and total flash rate data from the OKLMA during that time period. This end goal is to better understand how temperature variability in storm environments influence lightning production, and whether this can provide a better understanding of the timing and probability of tornadogenesis. Our findings will hopefully improve our understanding of environmental conditions, lightning, and tornadogenesis for forecasting of severe weather.