What is NSSL?

• Established in 1964
• One of 12 research laboratories in NOAA
• Only federal lab focused on severe-weather
research
• Employs 140 people in Norman, Oklahoma
• Located on North Campus at Westheimer Airport
• $15 million a year ($5.5 million in NOAA base)
 NSSL Accomplishments
• Engineering and scientific research that
demonstrated the importance of the
nationwide WSR-88D radar network
• Continued Doppler-radar research: dual-
polarimetry, phased-array
• Severe-storm structure and dynamics
• VORTEX field program (tornadogenesis)
• Information and decision support systems
• Collocation and interaction with Storm
Prediction Center
 The NSSL Mission:
Theoretical
To work in partnership with the National Weather
Studies Service to enhance NOAA’s capability of
providing accurate forecasts and warnings of all
types of hazardous weather events (blizzards, ice
storms, flash floods, tornadoes, lightning, etc.).

Applications

Observational
Studies
Understand
Severe
Weather
Processes

00

56

Modeling
Studies
118
59

2
39 NOAA
73
Services
74
87
10
 What Do I Do at NSSL?
• Midlatitude cyclones and fronts
• Improving snow & drizzle forecasting
• Arizona summertime convective-storm climatology
(with Pam MacKeen)
• The Intermountain Precipitation
Experiment (with Univ. of Utah)
• 3 May 1999 Oklahoma tornadoes
(with Paul Roebber, UW Milwaukee)
• Research Experience for
Undergraduates mentor
• Adjunct Professor, Univ. of Oklahoma
• 2002 Winter Olympics, NWS Forecaster
• Canoe & Kayak columnist
 Lightning and
Lightning Safety

Ron Holle David Schultz

Vaisala - Global Atmospherics NOAA/National Severe
Tucson, Arizona Storms Laboratory
rholle@glatmos.com Norman, Oklahoma
schultz@nssl.noaa.gov
 The Lightning Hazard
• An average of 25,000,000 cloud-to-ground
flashes strike the ground each year in the U.S.
• Lightning strikes the ground nearly everywhere
• As a result, specific warnings cannot be issued
for every flash for each person.

Ivan Eberle stormshot.com

Average Annual Storm-Related
Deaths from 1966 to 1995

150 135

100 85
73

50
25

0
Floods Lightning Tornadoes Hurricanes
 Lightning Casualties by State
from 1959 to 1994

40 64 35 Casualties
76
30
26 79 126
104 169 241
87 227 732 577 355
111
644 49
79 18 360 238 545
116 394 88
234 176 185

8
10
235 42
278 250
164 249 473 629
331 355
306 D. C.: 23
498 Puerto Ri co: 36
296 295 410 Rank
347 1-10
Al as ka: 0

15 23
11-20
Hawai i: 4 21-30
A 31-52
 Lightning Casualty Rate by State
from 1959 to 1994
Casualty
rate

Rank
1-10
11-20
21-30
B 31-52
 Settings of U.S. Lightning
Deaths 100 Years Apart
1890s
 Indoors most often - 23% of all deaths inside homes
 Next largest - outdoors and agriculture

 Almost no recreation and sports deaths

1990s
 Agriculture - much less frequent
 Only 2% inside houses

 Outdoors is largest category - employment, around

homes, other urban activities

 12% of deaths under trees

 Sports and recreation deaths frequent - beach,

water, golf, camping

 Lightning Casualties by Gender

Colorado Central Florida

90

80

70

60

50

40

30

20

10

0
Male Female
 Odds of Being a Lightning Victim

• 280,000,000 people in U.S.

• 60 killed, 340 injured a year (official)
1 in 700,000
• 100 deaths and 900 injuries a year (likely)
1 in 280,000
• Life span of 80 years 1 in 3,500
• Major impact on 10 people 1 in 350
 Lightning

Temperature
50,000°F
Power
10,000 MegaWatts for 1/2 second
Energy
30,000,000 Volts
50,000 Amperes
Size
1 inch
 Necessary Conditions for
Lightning Formation

• Updraft in a cumulus cloud

• Colder than freezing at top
• A mixed-phase environment with:
 Graupel–soft irregular hail particles
 Ice crystals
 Supercooled liquid water

Earle WiIliams, MIT, 09/98

Cumulus Towers

Ronald L. Holle©1990
 Lightning
Lightning is an electric discharge in the cloud.
Most lightning paths remain within the cloud;
others are cloud-to-ground.
From the initiation point (around 15,000 feet
during summer), the stroke travels in 50-yard
steps until it reaches the ground.
At the lower tip of each step, the
leader hesitates, looking
for something to strike
within about 50 yards.
 Streamers
• At the ground, there are small (inches to feet
long) streamers reaching upward to the
electrified cloud.
• When the downward leader connects to an
upward streamer, the bright light called
lightning is visible and moves upward.
• Charge is lowered to the ground, but current
flows upward.
• Most clouds lower negative
charge to the ground, but 5%
lower positive charge.
Why Trees and Fences are Bad Places
Ruth Lyon-Batemen, Island Park, Idaho
 When Lightning is Imminent

• hair stands on end

• sparks, electrical discharges
• St. Elmo’s fire
• hear static discharges

8/20/75: Sequoia National Park

at Moro Rock: One person killed
and 8 injured, the most seriously,
the photographer. All were from
an extended family. Hail was
falling as they were at the top,
300 feet higher and 1/3 mile
away from the parking lot.
Flash-to-bang

Storm
motion

1 mile 2 miles 3 miles

5 sec. 10 sec.. 15 sec. .
Flash
Outside
Rain
Shaft
 Blue Sky

• Part of the sky is often blue during lightning.

• Summer thunderstorms are vertical.
• Thunderstorms often are isolated.
• About 10% of lightning occurs without rain
at the strike point.
• Pay attention to the thunder, not the blue sky
or rain.
 Visible Sky During
Lightning Threat

Lightning was observed

from the dark cloud
overhead within a few
minutes of this view

Boulder, Colorado
24 August 1991
1119 MDT
Toward S

Ronald L. Holle©1991
 Visible Sky During
Lightning Threat

Lightning was
observed 2 miles
away 10 seconds
before photo

Tucson, Arizona
19 October 2000
1305 MST
Toward S

Ronald L. Holle©2000
 Sequence of Cloud-to-Ground
Flashes in Colorado Storm
245

Clust e r No. 7
)m No rt heast Colo rad o
240
k
(
e
c
Successive flashes na
are within 15 km ts Last
id 2 3 5
and 5 minutes of the h
previous flash tu
o
S
-h
tr 2 3 0
o
N
First

225
470 475 480 485 490 495
East - We st d ist ance ( km)
 The 30–30 Rule
Most people who die from lightning are struck
early in the storm or near the end.
80% of the cloud-to-ground flashes within the
same storm fall within 6 miles (10 km) of the
previous ground strike point.
5 seconds times 6 miles = 30 seconds
93% of successive cloud-to-ground strokes are
within 5 minutes of each other, but the
distribution extends out in time with quite a few
lightning casualties at longer times. So, we
advocate 30 minutes after the last stroke before
continuing outdoor activities.
 Lightning Safety Precautions

1. Avoid dangerous lightning situations

• Watch for signs of a thunderstorm that is
starting to grow quickly
• Be aware of other storms in your area
• Give yourself time to reach a safe place
before lightning is an immediate threat
 Lightning Safety Precautions

2. Plan Ahead
 Designate a spotter who is watching for
the threat of lightning
 Watch for storms growing quickly before
it's too late to reach a safe place
 Follow your safety plan
 Lightning Safety Precautions

3. Safe places
 Residence or frequently occupied building
Avoid contact with electric lines, phone
lines, and plumbing. Unplug appliances
before lightning arrives
 Vehicle with a metal top
Avoid contact with metal parts, and
antenna connections
 Lightning Safety Precautions

4. Unsafe places
 Shelters
Rain, sun, beach, golf, or picnic shelters
 Tents
 Open areas more than 100 yards across
 Trees, poles, tall objects
 Lightning Safety Precautions

5. Don’t be the highest object, or

connected to it
• Don't be the highest object
• Don't be connected to anything taller
than its surroundings
• AS A LAST RESORT: Crouch on
the balls of the feet, head down,
and cover your ears with your
hands.
 Lightning Safety Precautions

6. Use the 30–30 rule

First 30
30 seconds = flash-to-bang before storm
Second 30
Wait 30 minutes after last flash or
thunder before resuming activity
Especially critical for large groups
 Lightning Safety for Groups

Virginia Tech vs. Georgia Tech

(Aug. 27, 2000)

Lee Trevino, Jerry Heard and Bobby Nichols

were struck by lightning during the 1975
Western Open. The incident prompted new
safety standards in weather preparedness at
PGA events, but four spectators were killed
when struck by lightning during the 1991
U.S. Open at Hazeltine National.
 Lightning Safety Precautions
7. Special Outdoor Advice
• NO PLACE OUTSIDE IS SAFE DURING
THUNDERSTORMS!
• Be off the mountains by the time afternoon
thunderstorms are expected.
• Trails within the forest are only marginally safer
than exposed trails.
• Remove backpacks to expedite getting to safety.
• Caves, overhangs, and pavilions only protect you
from the rain, not the lightning, which can travel
from the strike point to you.
 When on the Water

• Get to land immediately.

• Lightning strikes have killed or injured people
more than 30 yards away on water.

wildweather.com
 Lightning Effects on People

• Deaths (10% of the time)

The only cause is cardiopulmonary arrest
• Injuries
52% - Memory deficit
44% - Attention deficit
41% - Sleep disturbance
38% - Dizziness
...
Dr. Mary Ann Cooper, April 1999
 First Aid for Lightning Victims
• Call 911.
• Make no more casualties by exposing rescuers to
continuing lightning danger.
• It is safe to handle a lightning victim.
• Check for breathing and pulse–administer CPR and/or
mouth-to-mouth resuscitation, if necessary.
• Check for other injuries: fractures, lightning entry and
exit points (e.g., fingers, toes, belt buckles, jewelry).
• Do not move victims with suspected spinal injuries.
• Prevent patient from going into shock (cover with
blanket, keep dry, do not let victim walk around).
• Take even stunned or otherwise unhurt victims to
hospital for proper medical attention.
NOAA Weather Radio
http://www.nws.noaa.gov/nwr
 Resources
NOAA/National Severe Storms Laboratory
http://www.nssl.noaa.gov/mag

NOAA/National Weather Service

http://www.lightningsafety.noaa.gov
Cloud
Flash
White Lightning Symbols Are 4 Cloud-to-ground Flashes In
Spider Flash on LDAR II - 17 August 2001 at 1515:38 UTC

Injury

START

END
 Cloud-to-ground Lightning Before
Nearby Cloud-to-ground Strokes

Probability of Detection False Failure

Warning Lead Time in Minutes Alarms to Warn
radius 3 10

4 miles 58% 26% 43% 30%

6 miles 76% 60% 57% 17%

8 miles 85% 75% 63% 11%

10 miles 89% 81% 69% 9%

 Time Lags
Minutes Since Last Probability of Ground
Ground Stroke Stroke Within 2 Miles

0 100%
5 7%
10 4%
15 1%
20 0.8%
25 0.6%
30 0.5%
 Responses to Lightning Injury

• Denial
• Isolation
• Self-medication by drugs and alcohol
• Anger at family, professionals, others
• Blame
• Different person
• Disappointment
• Acceptance - Final stage
Dr. Mary Ann Cooper, April 1999