Lightning, Weather’s Byproduct, May Become One of Its Predictors

Lightning’s intricate, darting dance across the sky can be mesmerizing or terrifying, elegant or explosive, divine or destructive, depending on how close it is.

But meteorologists have historically viewed lightning as little more than a weather byproduct. Like a rainbow, only with teeth.

That view may be changing as technology has evolved to study lightning and its potential to help predict, if not drive, atmospheric events.  https://www.nytimes.com/2017/01/09/science/lightning-weather-prediction.html?rref=collection%2Fsectioncollection%2Fscience&action=click&contentCollection=science&region=stream&module=stream_unit&version=latest&contentPlacement=8&pgtype=sectionfront

Article courtesy of the New York Times by Kate Murphy