Dissecting the anomaly: A closer look at the documented urban enhancement in summer season ground flash densities in and around the Houston area
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The Houston "lightning anomaly" was examined using nine years of cloud-to-ground (CG) lightning data (1995-2003). We find that the local Houston CG lightning anomaly, is a persistent feature, but statistically non-unique along the Gulf Coast. The results also suggest that although the Houston area sees an increased frequency of lightning producing storms, storms occurring further inland appear to produce more lightning on an event basis. Although hypotheses invoking anthropogenic influences have been offered to explain the Houston flash density anomaly, it seems equally plausible that mesoscale influences along the coastline may also be important. Copyright 2005 by the American Geophysical Union.