Study of single-flash thunderstorms over wind farms in the Basque Country

In this work, single-flash thunderstorms are discussed. The term single-flash is used in order to refer thunderstorms that leave very few or even only one lightning flash, usually related to the presence of tall structures. In this work, several cases of single-flash thunderstorms affecting wind farms are considered. The lightning impacts have been detected using different technologies in two separate lightning detection and location networks. Depending on the peak current estimated by the lightning detection sensors, most of the detections can be classified as upward positive leaders initiated by the wind turbines in presence of a thundercloud. Both cold and warm season thunderstorms are considered. A complete characterization of the thunderstorms using data from lightning detections networks and weather radar is provided.