Lightning Data in the National Weather Service Forecast Office; How Much is Too Much?

Cloud-to-ground lightning data have been available to NWS forecasters for almost two decades with universal adoption since the deployment of AWIPS in the late 1990s.  Over the last five years, additional lightning data sources including a number of total lightning networks have increased, each with varying detection methods and accuracy.  This increase in data have provided forecasters with both a greater quantity of products and frequency of information to understand and integrate into their workflow. Whether being commercial cloud-to-ground lightning detection networks, University research lightning mapping arrays, or derived gridded products, the choices for forecasters have increased dramatically and will continue to do so in the future as both ground and space-based lightning detection networks become available. While the use of cloud-to-ground lightning data in NWS operations is fairly well understood, as it has been in use for the longest time, newer methods have been introduced that have allowed forecasters to better monitor convective trends and assess overall lightning threats.  More recently, source-specific lightning plots, gridded density products, lightning jump algorithms, and forecasts of lightning probability have been introduced.

With the rapid increase in the number of data sources, up to 1-minute refresh rates and varying display methods, the ability of meteorologists to adequately manage the lightning information may become overwhelming.  Questions of how to best display lightning data, what data sources are best for the various aspects of the warning and forecast process, and what type of data to view (i.e., source data versus derived data) are all starting to come into question.  A brief history of displaying lightning data in AWIPS, how it has changed over the last three to five years, and what the future may hold with respect to total lightning data availability will be discussed.