muy buena versión! es una plataforma muy interesante al poder visualizar de forma dinámica la atmósfera a través de ambos modelados.
Excelente trabajo!
tornadouy
@tornadouy
Tecnico Meteorologo, investigador independiente de fenomenos meteorologicos severos, profesor de Meteorologia y creador del primer grupo de Observadore Voluntarios.
Best posts made by tornadouy
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RE: Windy version 14 brings sharper map and better colors
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Lightning Jump: the electrical signal that reveals a rapidly intensifying storm
A Lightning Jump is one of the most useful operational signals in convective monitoring because it helps identify when a storm is beginning to intensify rapidly, often before its most severe impacts become evident at the surface. In the images provided, the convective cell displays JUMP status, with maximum values ranging from 61 to 67 flashes per cell and a high sigma signal. This means that the flash rate increased abruptly compared with the storm’s previous electrical behavior.
From a physical standpoint, this sudden increase in lightning activity is usually associated with a strengthening updraft. When the vertical motion inside the cloud intensifies, the storm becomes more efficient at transporting supercooled water droplets, ice crystals, and graupel into the mixed-phase region, typically located between 0 °C and -20 °C. Within that layer, frequent collisions occur among ice particles, which promotes charge separation. As a result, the storm rapidly increases its electrical output and produces a noticeable spike in lightning activity.
The CIRA infrared satellite image strongly supports this interpretation. It shows very cold cloud tops, convective expansion, and a deep, organized structure consistent with strong vertical development. The most intense colors in the infrared product suggest very low cloud-top temperatures, often associated with vigorous ascent and strong convective growth. When this satellite signature coincides with a sudden increase in lightning rate, confidence rises that the storm is undergoing a genuine intensification process rather than only a brief fluctuation.
Operationally, a Lightning Jump should not be interpreted as automatic confirmation of severe weather. However, it is an extremely valuable early warning indicator. A storm that experiences a significant electrical jump may be entering a more hazardous phase, with increasing potential for hail, damaging downburst winds, heavy rainfall, severe turbulence, and frequent lightning. In some cases, it may also signal improved storm organization or a transition toward a more persistent and potentially severe convective structure.
Correct interpretation requires integrating the lightning signal with other meteorological fields and products. Lightning Jump analysis is most effective when combined with cloud-top temperature, rapid cloud-top cooling, radar reflectivity, radial velocity, thermodynamic instability, vertical wind shear, CAPE, precipitable water, and surface observations. If the jump occurs simultaneously with cold cloud tops, explosive vertical growth, strong radar echoes, and a favorable environmental background, the convective threat level should be raised in operational surveillance and warning decision-making.
In practical forecasting, Lightning Jump techniques are especially useful because they provide a timely, objective, and quantifiable measure of storm evolution. Unlike surface observations, which often detect impacts only after they begin, lightning-based diagnostics can highlight internal storm changes earlier in the life cycle. This gives forecasters additional lead time to anticipate hazardous evolution, refine short-term warnings, and communicate growing risk to aviation, civil protection, and other users.
In summary, the images show a storm with anomalous electrical behavior and satellite signatures consistent with deep convection. For the operational forecaster, a Lightning Jump acts as an early electrical alarm embedded within the convective life cycle. It does not replace a full meteorological analysis, but it adds a fast and highly valuable signal for anticipating the intensification of a potentially severe storm.
Latest posts made by tornadouy
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RE: Lightning Jump: the electrical signal that reveals a rapidly intensifying storm
@Jari-Sochorová muchas gracias por considerarlo ! Estamos trabajando con el Geonescast para poder utilizar el algoritmo del LJ, falta validarlo con casos. Estamos en esta instancia ahora.
Técnico Meteorólogo Fernando Torena -
Lightning Jump: the electrical signal that reveals a rapidly intensifying storm
A Lightning Jump is one of the most useful operational signals in convective monitoring because it helps identify when a storm is beginning to intensify rapidly, often before its most severe impacts become evident at the surface. In the images provided, the convective cell displays JUMP status, with maximum values ranging from 61 to 67 flashes per cell and a high sigma signal. This means that the flash rate increased abruptly compared with the storm’s previous electrical behavior.
From a physical standpoint, this sudden increase in lightning activity is usually associated with a strengthening updraft. When the vertical motion inside the cloud intensifies, the storm becomes more efficient at transporting supercooled water droplets, ice crystals, and graupel into the mixed-phase region, typically located between 0 °C and -20 °C. Within that layer, frequent collisions occur among ice particles, which promotes charge separation. As a result, the storm rapidly increases its electrical output and produces a noticeable spike in lightning activity.
The CIRA infrared satellite image strongly supports this interpretation. It shows very cold cloud tops, convective expansion, and a deep, organized structure consistent with strong vertical development. The most intense colors in the infrared product suggest very low cloud-top temperatures, often associated with vigorous ascent and strong convective growth. When this satellite signature coincides with a sudden increase in lightning rate, confidence rises that the storm is undergoing a genuine intensification process rather than only a brief fluctuation.
Operationally, a Lightning Jump should not be interpreted as automatic confirmation of severe weather. However, it is an extremely valuable early warning indicator. A storm that experiences a significant electrical jump may be entering a more hazardous phase, with increasing potential for hail, damaging downburst winds, heavy rainfall, severe turbulence, and frequent lightning. In some cases, it may also signal improved storm organization or a transition toward a more persistent and potentially severe convective structure.
Correct interpretation requires integrating the lightning signal with other meteorological fields and products. Lightning Jump analysis is most effective when combined with cloud-top temperature, rapid cloud-top cooling, radar reflectivity, radial velocity, thermodynamic instability, vertical wind shear, CAPE, precipitable water, and surface observations. If the jump occurs simultaneously with cold cloud tops, explosive vertical growth, strong radar echoes, and a favorable environmental background, the convective threat level should be raised in operational surveillance and warning decision-making.
In practical forecasting, Lightning Jump techniques are especially useful because they provide a timely, objective, and quantifiable measure of storm evolution. Unlike surface observations, which often detect impacts only after they begin, lightning-based diagnostics can highlight internal storm changes earlier in the life cycle. This gives forecasters additional lead time to anticipate hazardous evolution, refine short-term warnings, and communicate growing risk to aviation, civil protection, and other users.
In summary, the images show a storm with anomalous electrical behavior and satellite signatures consistent with deep convection. For the operational forecaster, a Lightning Jump acts as an early electrical alarm embedded within the convective life cycle. It does not replace a full meteorological analysis, but it adds a fast and highly valuable signal for anticipating the intensification of a potentially severe storm.
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Tiempo severo en el Cono sur de Sudamerica
Intercambio de informacion de tiempo severo en esta region, soy de Uruguay, tecnico meteorologo desde hace 21 años de experiencia.
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Horario del pronostico?
Buenos días!, el horario de la previsión meteorológica se encuentra en horas local o UTC? Gracias.
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RE: Windy version 14 brings sharper map and better colors
muy buena versión! es una plataforma muy interesante al poder visualizar de forma dinámica la atmósfera a través de ambos modelados.
Excelente trabajo!