Extended Abstract (384K)JP1.6
Meteorological case studies of lightning strike victims in Colorado—an update
Stephen J. Hodanish, NOAA/NWS, Pueblo, CO
This presentation continues the work of examining the meteorology prior to people being struck by lightning in the state of Colorado. In previous work, Individual case studies were examined showing the: (1) Temporal and spatial aspects of the Cloud to Ground (CG) lightning activity and: (2) Precipitation characteristics prior to the strike that caused the casualty. In this presentation we will summarize the previous work, along with additional case studies collected since 2006. With this summary data of over 18 case studies, we will show that people who are struck by lightning are typically hit by storms which are only producing infrequent CG activity; that is, storms that are producing only 1 CG flash every 2-3 minutes. It was also found that some of the victims were being struck by the first flash from the convective updraft.
Supplementary URL: http://www.weather.gov/pub/ltg.php
Joint Poster Session 1, Lightning Safety and Protection, Including Applications in the Urban Zone (Co-sponosored by the AMS Commission on Education and Human Resources)
Monday, 12 January 2009, 2:30 PM-4:00 PM, Hall 5
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