Meteorological aspects of cloud-to-ground lightning in the Kennedy Space Center region

This paper examines the meteorological environment in which cloud-to-ground lightning occurs at the Kennedy Space Center (KSC) region during summer. Using the lightning patterns of central Florida, flashes from individual thunderstorms were analyzed for five low-level wind regimes during three summers. The results showed large differences between the number, timing, and location of flashes for varying flow regimes, with southwest flow being the most prolific producer of flashes in the KSC area. In the second part of the study, short-term forecasts of lightning were investigated using the divergence measured by the KSC surface wind network. An interval of about 1 hour was found from the beginning of a convergence event to first lightning. Monitoring 5-min surface convergence, in combination with understanding the climatology of lightning related to the daily flow regime, made it possible to isolate the lightning. Results were used successfully in operations at KSC.