Finally it got warmer. The weather is nice, but there were forecasts of storms. Will he join us for a walk or a weekend trip? We can keep track of where the storm is living thanks to many popular websites and apps.

We will find out where the storm is thanks to the fact that lightning also sends radio waves. In 2005, a radar network for amateurs was established to discover them – the service blitzortung.org.

Its data is used by many other websites (eg lightningmaps.org).

In Google Play and the Apple Store you will find many applications that use radar data. The easiest way to find them is to simply type:

  • Where is the storm
  • storm radar
  • English word Lightning (i.e. lightning).

In such applications and on websites we will see on the map, Where is the storm now and where is it heading?.

Older discharges are highlighted in red, then in brighter colors. This way you can see the trail of the passing storm. This allows us to judge whether it is heading towards us and how fast it is going.

Unfortunately, only lightning detection allows you to know where a storm has already originated somewhere. Meanwhile, as warm, moist air rises, water vapor condenses.

And so completely new A storm cloud may form above us or in our area. Before the first lightning strikes, we may not even notice where the storm is. In the forest it can be covered with trees, in the city – with buildings. A radar network and other satellites will come to the rescue here.

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The radars of the Institute of Meteorology and Water Management (IMWM) also track … clouds, specifically the size of the water droplets that make up them. The larger the droplets, the higher the chance of precipitation. Thanks to this, the data on the IMWM map will show us where it can rain.

IMWM has two sides with storm radars: to fly And “Civil” version. On both sides (and in the app Meteo IMGW) So we’ll see where the storm is and where it might rain.

Here, too, colors will help us in the assessment, light shades will show a light rain, and dark ones – stronger. Violet, in turn, portends a possible heavy rain, which usually occurs in the summer when there is a storm.

Where the storm will be, data from outer space can also tell us. Satellites orbiting the Earth take accurate pictures of clouds. We can watch it live on the site Sat24.com And in the application of the same name.

A single storm cloud is easily recognizable by the fact that it appears “out of nowhere” – this moist air is rising and condensing.

Clouds associated with transient fronts, in turn, extend for hundreds of kilometers. If a storm arose in it, then it can be recognized. Storm clouds are rising high, up to 15-20 km up. Its characteristic peaks cast a shadow on the clouds below.

We will also learn about storm cells that produce several storms at once, because they resemble what meteorologists call “boiling jelly.” The least likely you’ll see is a large storm cell – a large, circular or elliptical cloud structure that can cover a large part of the country.

Satellite, radar and ground sensor data is used in many popular websites and applications (eg Windy.com and publish its data Skyradar.pl).

There are also tabs with other data. This is amazing, If and where the storm will be indicated by the CAPE indicatorWhich determines how quickly storm clouds can form. Any value greater than zero means that there is a possibility of a storm – the higher it is, the more violent the phenomena can be. It is used to forecast tornadoes and tornadoes.

A completely different type of method is the maps and graphs of the Interdisciplinary Center for Mathematical and Computational Modeling at the University of Warsaw (acronym ICM). Its supercomputers calculate accurate weather forecasts for a specific area every few hours. We can view it on a map or as a graph on the website meteo.pl or in the Meteo ICM . app. Where the storm will be, we’ll be shown little circles on the precipitation charts.

It is worth following the location of the storm, because it is a really dangerous phenomenon. Apart from lightning, they are accompanied by strong gusts of wind. Hurricanes and even tornadoes are not rare in Poland at all.