Hot Items 2002The History Channel interviews NSSL lightning researcher
Don MacGorman, a researcher with the National Severe Storms Laboratory, will be interviewed Monday about his lightning research for a History Channel production. MacGorman, along with colleagues from NSSL and the University of Oklahoma, is installing a lightning mapping array in central Oklahoma to gather lightning information.
The data gathered by the new equipment will help forecasters better understand how lightning relates to tornadoes and other severe weather, eventually helping forecasters use lightning to give more precise and timely warnings as severe weather develops.
The History Channel documentary is tentatively titled "Lightning: Curse and Blessing." Producers are focusing on the power of this amazing phenomenon, and the science that is trying to understand, and maybe someday predict it. The program also will address the positive aspects of lightning, from the beginning of life on earth, to its job of keeping our electric earth in balance.
9/06/2002