BoltAlert®: Predicting Lightning Threats

Challenge

Thunderstorms and especially lightning pose a safety risk to people outdoors whether they are working or enjoying themselves with recreational activities.  It is imperative to bring people inside to safety whenever thunderstorms and lightning are nearby.

Solution

BoltAlert®

The BoltAlert® system processes radar, temperature, and lightning data to derive statistically calibrated lightning probability and lightning safety guidance for specifiable locations.

Benefits

Lightning alerts are provided with a lead time of up to 30 minutes, with alerts updated every 2 to 5 minutes.

Such a capability to alert of impending lightning impacts is of particular interest to airports, sites for handling or testing equipment, fuel, ammunition and missiles, outdoor venues (e.g., baseball parks, swimming pools) and special events (e.g., Olympics), construction and open-air mining sites, utilities (e.g., energy, electricity transmission), recreation (e.g., hiking, camping, boating), transportation, and many others more.

Contact

Please direct questions/comments about this page to:

Wiebke Deierling

Project Scientist II

email