Pueblo, Colorado Lightning Densities

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Pueblo, Colorado Lightning Densities

• Pete Saunders
• Graduate Student
• Florida State University

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Time Series

• The following graphs depict the total
  flash counts versus the time they occur. The
  times have been converted from UTC to Mountain
  Standard Time (MST). The first graph, entitled
  Warm Season Hourly Counts gives a seasonal
  representation of the time in which most
  lightning flashes occur in Colorado. The
  subsequent graphs are a month by month
  illustration.
• The warm season indicates the months of
  April through September over an 11 year period.
  Finally, the area represented in the plots is
  between
• Latitude 35.0 N through 42.0 N
• Longitude -102.0 W through -110.0 W
• Please note The ordinate axes of the
  following graphs are not to scale

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Remarks

• Examining lightning counts temporally
  illustrates the convective nature of the
  atmosphere climatologically throughout the warm
  season.
• There is a subtle shift in peak lightning
  counts toward later in the afternoon from April
  through July.
• July and August have the highest CG flash
  counts with July being a bit more active, just
  over 450 000 flashes, compared with slightly less
  in August.
• There is a rapid decrease in activity from
  August to September with average flash counts of
  approximately 160 000.

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Spatial Density Maps

• The following maps depict the spatial
  densities of CG lightning flashes for the Pueblo,
  Colorado region. The first map, entitled Warm
  Season Flash Density, is a seasonal
  representation for the entire warm season. The
  subsequent maps present a month by month
  comparison of CG flash density.
• Please note
• The coordinates for the density maps are the
  same as previously mentioned for the time series.
  
• The color bar represents different flash
  densities for each month in order to isolate
  features of interest.

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Highest densities occur just to the north of
Pikes Peak within the Palmer Divide
Relatively high densities in the southern portion
of the Sangre de Cristo Mountains
Noticeably lower values of lightning densities
within San Luis Valley region
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Interesting area of relatively high densities
here in the northeastern plains.
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Higher lightning densities probably associated
with the Denver Convergence Vorticity Zone.
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Remarks

• These lightning densities look quite similar to
  those depicted in Lightning Climatology for the
  State of Colorado (Hodanish 2006).
• The highest densities are over the Palmer Dive
  region just to the north of Pikes Peak. The
  Denver Convergence Vorticity Zone may as well
  contribute to this hot spot. Also, the southern
  portion of the Sangre de Cristo Mountain Range
  has relatively high densities, as does the Raton
  Mesa region.
• Low lightning densities occur as expected in the
  San Luis Valley, and in eastern Colorado in the
  Plains region.
• The western portion of the state (Sawatch Range
  and westward) has too many high mountains
  blocking the moisture, thus inhibiting
  convection.
• Steve Your paper has been extremely helpful in
  understanding patterns of lightning during the
  warm season in Colorado.
• Any further input or suggestions on the overall
  convective nature of the warm season or why the
  highest/lowest lightning densities appear where
  they are would be greatly appreciated. Also,
  please share this document with your forecasters
  in order to facilitate feedback and understanding.