In defense of heat lightningLightning from distant thunderstorms can sometimes be seen on the horizon without any thunder. It can be fairly common during the summer months in places like Florida though is more rare in the Pacific Northwest because we don’t get a lot of thunderstorms as it is. The term *heat lightning* is occasionally applied to this phenomenon.
From time to time people have assumed that it is caused by heat alone because it is primarily seen on warm summer nights and may not have thunder associated with it. This is incorrect (it’s just lightning too far away to be heard) and this incorrect assumption has led to some meteorologists becoming angsty when people refer to heat lightning.
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As a meteorologist myself, I think this angst is unnecessary and that there is nothing wrong with the term heat lightning. Certainly meteorologists should clarify what heat lightning is when relevant, but I suspect that in general most people using the term know that heat lightning is just distant normal lightning.
With relatively clear skies and good visibility lightning from distant storms can be easily seen from 30 to 50 miles (50 to 80 km) away and in very clear conditions over 100 miles (160 km) away when it’s dark out. At these distances, you won’t hear thunder with the lightning.<div class="wp-block-jetpack-subscriptions__form-elements"><p id="subscribe-email"><labelid="subscribe-field-label"for="subscribe-field"class="screen-reader-text">Type your email…<inputrequired="required"type="email"name="email"class="no-border-radius "style="font-size: 16px;padding: 15px 23px 15px 23px;border-radius: 0px;border-width: 1px;" placeholder="Type your email…" value="" id="subscribe-field" title="Please fill in this field."></inputrequired="required"type="email"name="email"class="no-border-radius></labelid="subscribe-field-label"for="subscribe-field"class="screen-reader-text"></p><p id="subscribe-submit"><input type="hidden" name="action" value="subscribe"><input type="hidden" name="blog_id" value="231036007"><input type="hidden" name="source" value="https://ingallswx.com/?p=6270"><input type="hidden" name="sub-type" value="subscribe-block"><input type="hidden" name="app_source" value=""><input type="hidden" name="redirect_fragment" value="subscribe-blog"><input type="hidden" name="lang" value="en"><input type="hidden" id="_wpnonce" name="_wpnonce" value="4cc2a51d67"><input type="hidden" name="_wp_http_referer" value="/?p=6270"><input type="hidden" name="post_id" value="6270"><button type="submit" class="wp-block-button__link no-border-radius" style="font-size: 16px;padding: 15px 23px 15px 23px;margin: 0; margin-left: 10px;border-radius: 0px;border-width: 1px; background-color: #113AF5; color: #FFFFFF;" name="jetpack_subscriptions_widget">Subscribe</button></p></div>
I don’t think it’s a huge stretch to point out that observing distant lightning in the evening is a very different experience for the viewer when compared to lightning nearby or overhead. For this reason, the displeasure some meteorologists express is simply overly pedantic.
Many meteorologists also take on a teaching role for the general public. For a lot of people, a meteorologist is the only scientist they regularly interact with or see content from in the media.
Someone discussing heat lightning incorrectly presents a meteorologist with a simple opportunity to lean into this teaching role that has inadvertently come to the industry. Most meteorologists naturally have no problem with this. Positive interactions increase the trust followers have with that meteorologist; trust that is critical when dangerous weather is approaching their forecast area.
As with all of science, meteorology is continuously evolving as researchers discover new features requiring new terminology. From time to time new terminology is heaped on us from outside the industry but works well enough that it becomes appropriate for use in forecasting and other weather material.
Two semi-recent examples of this are *atmospheric river* and *heat dome*. Atmospheric rivers are narrow bands of moisture that bring heavy rain to a specific area for long periods of time. In the last decade or so meteorologists have been leaning more into this term which was developed in the 1990s over the older *pineapple express* used on the West Coast of North America.
Pineapple express is still relevant and accurate for many of the atmospheric rivers that impact British Columbia, Washington, Oregon, and California yet meteorologists are utilizing newer and more academic terminology.
Meanwhile the term heat dome has come to be used for a strong upper level high pressure system that generates long-lasting unusual heat at the ground level. My understanding is that this term came from outside the industry but has been adopted by meteorologists because upper level highs are literal domes of air and when conditions are right they bring severe heat.
As we expect the public to adapt to the way we communicate weather hazards, we should adapt to some extent to the general public – especially when the terminology they use isn’t a misrepresentation of the situation. Heat lightning is one of these terms, it’s literally lightning that one sees when it is hot in the evening.
I want to point out that for most meteorologists this isn’t an issue. Occasionally I see tempers flare on the subject on social media, however, and the temper just isn’t something I understand.
There are many different things related to weather communication that need to be improved. The entire watch, warning, and advisory system in North America is constantly misunderstood, for example, and the media often misnames strong wintertime lows as polar vortexes. Why don’t we tackle these issues instead?
*The featured image is of a distant thunderstorm photographed in Kentucky in 2010. (Bbadgett/Wikimedia)*
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