The North Alabama Lightning Mapping Array (NALMA) has been in operation since 2001 and consists of ten VHF receivers deployed across northern Alabama. The NALMA locates sources of impulsive VHF radio signals from total lightning by accurately measuring the time that the signals arrive at the different receiving stations. The sources detected are then clustered into flashes by applying spatially and temporally constraints.

This study examines the total lightning climatology of the region derived from NALMA and compares it to the cloud-to-ground (CG) climatology derived from the National Lightning Detection Network (NLDN). The presentation compares the total and CG lightning trends for monthly, daily, and hourly periods.