A new paper on data collection during Hurricane Ian, authored by the NOAA National Severe Storms Laboratory (NSSL) and the Cooperative Institute for Severe and High-Impact Weather Research and Operations (CIWRO), was selected by the American Meteorological Society and the editors of Bulletin of the American Meteorological Society (BAMS)  to be featured as a BAMS highlight. 

NSSL and CIWRO’s submission discusses the deployment of and data collected by a suite of instruments during the landfall of the Category 5 hurricane in Florida in 2022. The team collected mobile radar data, surface observations, vertical profiles, and 3D lightning information with a Lighting Mapping Array.

Hurricane Ian produced especially intense convection in its eyewall while it was over water, lofting graupel and initiating lightning above 11 km (6.8 miles) in altitude.

“By using these observations, we can develop and refine the use of lightning data to monitor severe convection and intensity changes in hurricane eyewalls and rainbands during landfall,” said NSSL Research Physical Scientist Addison Alford. “Ultimately that understanding can help us better equip forecasters to issue life-saving warnings.”

AMS highlights the research and findings of key articles published in their journals. Paper authored by: Jacquelyn Ringhausen, Addison Alford, Noah Brauer, Kristin Calhoun, Vanna Chmielewski and Sean Waugh.