Topband: Lightning Statistical Data

[Bill Tippett]

        Thanks to the many who sent responses to my question:  
"Does anyone know of a Website that shows statistical data for lightning
strikes by location and by date?"

        The data I was looking for was first sent by Eric N7CL:

>               http://wwwghcc.msfc.nasa.gov/ols.html
>
>Be sure to check out the 1986 worldwide year long composite
>image.  They also have the month by month data that you are
>looking for spanning a large range of years.  

        EXACTLY what I was looking for with strike frequency by month
on global maps.  It would be perfect for planning low band expeditions.
This is a very interesting site to explore!

********************

        Then Tom K1KI replied he found similar data but updated at
this site (great data and more current than the above):

>This looks like the data you are looking for (covers 40N to 40S latitude):
>
>             http://thunder.msfc.nasa.gov/data/query/distributions.html
>
>Main web site:
>
>             http://thunder.msfc.nasa.gov/   


********************

        Bob NM7M also suggested:

>The data that I have always used came in the Geophysics Handbook of the
>U.S. Air Force (1965).  It gives global maps month by month and also by
>seasons.  I believe the source goes back to something published by H.M.S.
>Printing Office.

        Bob volunteered K9LA and himself to send this data to anyone who
may be planning a DXpedition.  Bob's address is bobnm7m@cnw.com and Carl
K9LA's address is k9la@gte.net.

********************

        Dave K1FK (dbowker@mail.sjv.net) sent the following and I
believe the MIL handbook he refers to may be the same that NM7M refers
to above.  The maps of interest are pages 110-113 of the 812 page document
but are not worth downloading because the detail is so poor.  The data is
from NOAA so someone might be able to find it there if they have time to
search for it.

>For USA Isokeraunic maps, see the following:
>http://www.laruscorp.com/isokera.htm  http://www.nparker.com/global/1989.htm

>For world-wide maps, the best detailed world-wide maps appear in
>MIL-HDBK-419A.  There are four maps covering DEC-JAN-FEB,  MAR-APR-MAY,
>JUNE-JUL-AUG,  and SEP-OCT-NOV as well as a single map (detail is hard to
>read) of the USA.  Electronic copies of MIL-HDBK-419A may be obtained at:
>   http://assist.daps.mil/eAccess/index.cfm?ident_number=54042  You will
>need Adobe Acrobat to read online, and this document takes quite a long time
>to download before you can get to the pages with the charts.  Go to pages
>3-5 through 3-9.
>
>There are others available for specific countries and States at the WMO
>Technical Library:  http://www.wmo.ch/web/arep/lib1/homepage.html
>Australian Bureau of Meterology:
> http://www.bom.gov.au/info/wmd/olympic/thunder.htm  and World Meterological
>Organization:  http://www.wmo.ch/
>
>There are also some printed documents available from the World Meterological
>Organization, Geneva, Switzerland entiled:  World Distribution of
>Thunderstorm Days, Part I, WMO/OMM No. 21, TP. 6 (1953) and Part II, WMO/OMM
>No. 21, TP. 21 (1956).
>
>If interested, I have a bibliography of lightning related references (on
>disk) which I would be happy to email to anyone requesting it.  Most of the
>references are obtainable from university libraries on inter-library loans
>from participating public libraries.

************************

        Several others sent some interesting links worth checking:

        http://lightning.apcc.com/   (A commercial site for NA)
        http://lightning.apcc.com/apcc/gpg/lex1/mapdisplay_free.jsp
        (best site I've seen for showing current strikes in NA)
        http://www.glatmos.com/   (Another commercial site for NA)


        There were many other replies including N4XD, K4LDR, KV4FZ, 4X4NJ
V26R/KA2AEV, WB6RIJ nd N7RT.  Thanks again to all!

                                                  73,  Bill  W4ZV
 



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