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<p>Both hail and lightning originate from intense convective storms. The climatologies of hail and lightning have been extensively studied separately, with most studies concentrating on their similarities. However, the different physical processes of hail and lightning lead to different climatological patterns. This study analyzed hail and lightning precipitation features (PFs) to reveal their spatial distribution differences across North America from a climatological perspective. The results reveal spatial discrepancies across three regions: the Central Great Plains (CGP) experience high hail but relatively low lightning frequency, Florida displays the opposite pattern, and Mexico has moderate occurrences of both. In the CGP, relatively infrequent precipitation limits lightning PF occurrence. However, once convection develops, it is much stronger than in Florida, and is characterized by stronger mid-tropospheric echoes, lower microwave polarization-corrected brightness temperatures, larger 30/40&#xa0;dBZ echo volumes, lower freezing-level heights, and a greater proportion of high 0–6&#xa0;km wind shear, all of which favour the formation of hail PFs in the CGP. In contrast, Florida experiences frequent precipitation but weaker convection, resulting in numerous lightning PFs but fewer hail PFs. Moreover, hail and lightning PFs also exhibit regional differences in convective structures. For example, hail PFs exhibit stronger midlevel reflectivity in the CGP, whereas those in Florida peak at lower levels, resulting in the greatest surface rainfall intensity among the three regions. These results explain the differences between hail and lightning in spatial distributions and highlight the necessity of distinguishing between the two in climate research and disaster prevention.</p>

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Investigating the spatial distribution differences of hail and lightning in North America

  • 期刊论文

  • 发表日期：

    2026年2月23日

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  • Jiajun Zhang,
  • Xiang Ni

摘要

Both hail and lightning originate from intense convective storms. The climatologies of hail and lightning have been extensively studied separately, with most studies concentrating on their similarities. However, the different physical processes of hail and lightning lead to different climatological patterns. This study analyzed hail and lightning precipitation features (PFs) to reveal their spatial distribution differences across North America from a climatological perspective. The results reveal spatial discrepancies across three regions: the Central Great Plains (CGP) experience high hail but relatively low lightning frequency, Florida displays the opposite pattern, and Mexico has moderate occurrences of both. In the CGP, relatively infrequent precipitation limits lightning PF occurrence. However, once convection develops, it is much stronger than in Florida, and is characterized by stronger mid-tropospheric echoes, lower microwave polarization-corrected brightness temperatures, larger 30/40 dBZ echo volumes, lower freezing-level heights, and a greater proportion of high 0–6 km wind shear, all of which favour the formation of hail PFs in the CGP. In contrast, Florida experiences frequent precipitation but weaker convection, resulting in numerous lightning PFs but fewer hail PFs. Moreover, hail and lightning PFs also exhibit regional differences in convective structures. For example, hail PFs exhibit stronger midlevel reflectivity in the CGP, whereas those in Florida peak at lower levels, resulting in the greatest surface rainfall intensity among the three regions. These results explain the differences between hail and lightning in spatial distributions and highlight the necessity of distinguishing between the two in climate research and disaster prevention.