Variability in lightning hazard over Indian region with respect  to El Niño–Southern Oscillation (ENSO) phases

Sreenath, Avaronthan Veettil; Abhilash, Sukumarapillai; Vijaykumar, Pattathil

doi:https://doi.org/10.5194/nhess-21-2597-2021

Articles | Volume 21, issue 8

https://doi.org/10.5194/nhess-21-2597-2021

© Author(s) 2021. This work is distributed under
the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 License.

https://doi.org/10.5194/nhess-21-2597-2021

© Author(s) 2021. This work is distributed under
the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 License.

Articles | Volume 21, issue 8

Research article

|

26 Aug 2021

Research article |

| 26 Aug 2021

Variability in lightning hazard over Indian region with respect to El Niño–Southern Oscillation (ENSO) phases

Avaronthan Veettil Sreenath, Sukumarapillai Abhilash, and Pattathil Vijaykumar

Data sets

LIS/OTD 2.5 Degree Low Resolution Monthly Climatology Time Series (LRMTS) D. J. Cecil https://doi.org/10.5067/LIS/LIS-OTD/DATA309

NCEP/NCAR Global Reanalysis Products, 1948-continuing, updated monthly National Centers for Environmental Prediction/National Weather Service/NOAA/US~Department of Commerce https://psl.noaa.gov/data/gridded/data.ncep.reanalysis.html

Short summary

Lightning is a multifaceted hazard with widespread negative consequences for the environment and society. We explore how El Niño–Southern Oscillation (ENSO) phases impact the lightning over India by modulating the deep convection and associated atmospheric thermodynamics. Results show that ENSO phases directly influence lightning during monsoon and postmonsoon seasons by pushing the mean position of subtropical westerlies southward.