Climatology of thunderstorms in the Baltic countries, 1951–2000

Relationship between human observations of thunderstorms and the PERUN lightning detection network in Poland

“…He found that radius of 9 km from the site of volunteer observers was the average human observational range of thunderstorms while the radius of 14.7 km was found to be the most appropriate for meteorological stations. The most important conclusion of his study was that although human observations (Enno et al, 2013) and lightning detection (Enno, 2011;Mäkelä et al. 2014) data are different datasets, they give similar results.…”

“…For the last two decades the main climatological research on thunderstorm spatial and temporal variability was based on human observations performed within meteorological stations (Solantie and Tuomi, 2000;Changnon and Changnon, 2001;Kuleshov et al, 2006;Bielec-Bakowska, 2003;Zheng et al, 2010;Loginov et al, 2010;Enno et al, 2013). Since late 1980s, thunderstorms have started to be monitored within instrumental observations of lightning detection networks that are able to locate in real-time the exact place of lightning discharges.…”

Remote Sensing Observations of Thunderstorm Features in Latvia

“…The total number of days with lightning detected has been by 16-52 days larger than the number of thunderstorm days registered by the surface meteorological observation stations, while for days with at least 10 lightning flashes detected this difference has been substantially lower (0-9 days). It is important to note that the presented here analysis is not directly comparable to the results obtained by Enno et al [32], since the particular study has looked at thunderstorm occurrence at particular observation sites, while this analysis considers the occurrence of thunder within the whole territory of the country. The monthly distribution of the total number of days with lightning flashes and days with more than 10 lightning flashes observed (Fig.…”

“…Recent study of thunderstorm climatology in the Baltic countries [32] [33] has focused on assessing the long-term trends of changes in thunderstorm frequency and atmospheric circulation patterns associated with thunderstorm occurrence. According to these studies, the annual mean number of days with thunderstorms in Latvia has been estimated to be 14-24 days over the period 1951 to 2000, with a distinct gradient in thunderstorm day frequency from the coastal areas towards inland.…”

Thunderstorms caused by southern cyclones in Estonia

“…Dotzek et al 2009). On the other hand, the number of thunders over the eastern Baltic region has decreased during the last half of the 20th century (Enno 2011;Enno et al 2013). Several studies have reported severe thunderstorms and lightnings accompanied by SC-related advection of warm and humid tropical air (Kolendowicz 1998(Kolendowicz , 2006(Kolendowicz , 2012Bielec-Bakowska 2003;Tuomi & Mäkelä 2008) or by cold fronts (Horvath et al 2008), but no frequency analyses and associated comparisons have yet been performed.…”