Variability and trends of annual and seasonal thunderstorm frequency over Bangladesh

Saha, Toma Rani; Quadir, Dewan Abdul

doi:10.1002/joc.4663

Cited by 28 publications

(19 citation statements)

References 7 publications

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“…This could be attributed to the scale of analysis and synoptic system (Goswami et al ., ). In addition, pre‐monsoon climate of Bangladesh is influenced by a variety of factors such as conditional instability related to subsidence of Hadley circulation (Qie et al ., ), low‐level convergence (Saha and Quadir, ), presence of moisture gradient or dry line (Weston, ), vertical wind shear (Yamane and Hayashi, ) and land surface properties (Medina et al ., ) – all of which potentially provide necessary ingredients for increased severe storms and lightning activity.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 69%

Lightning activity associated with precipitation and CAPE over Bangladesh

Dewan

Ongee

Rafiuddin

et al. 2017

Intl Journal of Climatology

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Satellite‐derived lightning data for 17 years (1998–2014) were used to evaluate the relation between environmental factors and lightning activity over the Bangladesh landmass. Time series convective available potential energy (CAPE) data were extracted from ERA‐40 reanalysis data while total and convective rainfalls were obtained from Tropical Rainfall Measuring Mission's monthly products. In addition, the product of CAPE and precipitation was computed and used as an additional variable. Three timescales – monthly, seasonal and annual – were utilized to determine the influence of precipitation and CAPE on lightning activity. The results indicated that CAPE stands out as an important variable at all of these timescales for predicting the occurrence of lightning. The correlation coefficient (r) between CAPE and lightning activity was found to be 0.902 (monthly), 0.703 (pre‐monsoon), 0.550 (monsoon) and 0.702 (annual), respectively. Total rain showed strong positive correlation with lightning on monthly scale (r = 0.734) and in the pre‐monsoon season (r = 0.701). However, such relationship was moderate during monsoon (r = 0.455). In contrast, convective rain showed slightly higher correlation during monsoon (r = 0.587) compared with that of pre‐monsoon season (r = 0.532). Because of strong seasonality in the data, convective rain did not exhibit strong relationship on annual scale (r = 0.227). The product variable (e.g. CAPE × precipitation) showed significant correlation on monthly (r = 0.895) and seasonal scales (r = 0.818 during pre‐monsoon and 0.686 in monsoon) but its influence appears to diminish on a longer timescale (r = 0.375). Spatial maps of correlation coefficient revealed significant positive correlation along relatively drier northern parts of Bangladesh. As lightning‐related fatality is on the rise, this study, first of its kind, is expected to inform public policy and provide information necessary for effective management of this atmospheric phenomenon to save lives and property in Bangladesh.

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Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 69%

Lightning activity associated with precipitation and CAPE over Bangladesh

Dewan

Ongee

Rafiuddin

et al. 2017

Intl Journal of Climatology

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“…The Comprehensive Disaster Management Programme under the Ministry of Disaster Management and Relief reported 180 deaths by TS only in 2016. The Government of Bangladesh declared TS as natural disasters on 17 May 2016 by considering their significant impacts on human life and economy [2].…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…A substantial number of studies have been conducted on thunderstorms worldwide in recent years, e.g., Kunkel et al [12] in the USA, Mir et al [13] in Pakistan, Kunz et al [14] in Germany, Pinto et al [9,10] in Brazil, Enno et al [15] in Europe, Allen and Karoly [7] in Australia, Zheng et al [16] in China, Singh and Bhardwaj [17] in India, Saha and Quadir [2] in Bangladesh and Araghi et al [18] in Iran. Most of the earlier studies focused on the synoptic, dynamic and physical aspects of TS events, as well as modelling or predicting TS occurrence.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Trends and Variabilities of Thunderstorm Days over Bangladesh on the ENSO and IOD Timescales

et al. 2020

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Thunderstorms (TS) are one of the most devastating atmospheric phenomena, which causes massive damage and adverse losses in various sectors, including agriculture and infrastructure. This study investigates the spatiotemporal variabilities of TS days over Bangladesh and their connection with El Niño Southern Oscillation (ENSO) and Indian Ocean Dipole (IOD). The TS, ENSO and IOD years’ data for 42 years (1975–2016) are used. The trend in TS days at the spatiotemporal scale is calculated using Mann Kendall and Spearman’s rho test. Results suggest that the trend in TS days is positive for all months except December and January. The significant trends are found for May and June, particularly in the northern and northeastern regions of Bangladesh. In the decadal scale, most of the regions show a significant upward trend in TS days. Results from the Weibull probability distribution model show the highest TS days in the northeastern region. The connection between TS days and ENSO/IOD indicates a decrease in TS activities in Bangladesh during the El Niño and positive IOD years.

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“…An estimated more than 1600-2400 thunderstorms occur at any moment and 50,000 each day, around the globe. [1][2][3][4] Geographic location of Bangladesh is an indicated zone of natural disaster like storm, drought, flood etc. 5 Bangladesh is facing a long term climate change (In last 25 years average temperature of Bangladesh increased by 1.5°C).…”

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confidence: 99%