Lightning activity variation during the evolution of tropical cyclones in the southwest Pacific region

Abstract:

The South Pacific Island countries are vulnerable to natural hazards which cause devastating effects on infrastructure, crops and at times loss of lives and many others. Tropical cyclones (TCs) are one type of natural hazard experienced by Pacific Island countries (PICs). The South Pacific region has two seasons, namely: the cyclone season, running from November to April, and the non-cyclone season, running from May to October. Tropical cyclones are associated with strong winds, rainfall, and thunderstorms generating strong lightning discharges. The analysis of lightning data obtained from the World Wide Lightning Locations Network for the southwest Pacific region, defined as the region bounded between geographic coordinates, latitudes 0 - 40°S, longitudes 135°E - 120°W, during 2013 clearly shows the lightning activity to be higher during the cyclone season due to increased convective activity. The change in the lightning activity with the intensity of 41 TCs of categories 2 to 5 occurring in the southwest Pacific region has been analysed for the years 2005 to 2013. The intensity measurements, as determined by maximum sustained winds and the lightning activity, as determined by flash counts were studied during the stages of evolution of these TCs. Taking into account the lag between peak lightning activity and peak maximum sustained wind, the two quantities; lightning activity and intensity for individual TCs were correlated. Square 10° grid sizes were used along with radial sections to quantify lightning. We quantify lightning occurrences in three distinct sections of the cyclone (eyewall, inner and outer rainbands) to clearly show the lightning characteristics within these different regions. Lightning activity is seen to be greatly variable between different storms, however we do observe lightning outbreaks in the eyewall prior to the intensification of the storm.