Yandex Weather has added a new layer to its precipitation map — a thunderstorm forecast with an accuracy of up to 10 minutes. The company shared details about the innovation and also compiled a rating of the most “lightning-fast” cities and months in Russia.
Users can track the movement of a thunderstorm front on a precipitation map, which allows them to see where lightning is currently flashing. The service makes a forecast for every ten minutes for the next two hours, and for every hour for ten days ahead. This will help you understand whether to go for a walk with your dog now or wait out the storm.
The forecast helps not only to plan your day, but also to avoid danger. Thunderstorms are often accompanied by showers, squally winds, and sometimes hail, which are best waited out indoors. If a thunderstorm front is approaching, it is better to postpone a walk or trip to nature.
During a thunderstorm, it is also dangerous to be in water, near tall trees, and buildings that are in the open. In addition, lightning strikes can cause fires or damage power lines.
You can learn about the approach of a thunderstorm not only on the precipitation map, but also with the help of push notifications. The service sends them at least 30 minutes before the onset of bad weather. A detailed thunderstorm forecast is now available for the European part of Russia. The service compiles it using the Meteum technology, which uses specially trained algorithms. They analyze meteorological data, including from radars and satellites, and calculate the coordinates of lightning and the direction of movement of thunderclouds. This data is updated every ten minutes.
In Russia, thunderstorms most often occur in the summer, and their peak occurs in June and July, as Yandex Weather analysts have found. Among million-plus cities, Krasnodar leads in the number of thunderstorms — it has 39 thunderstorm days on average per year. Rostov-on-Don is in second place (31 days), Moscow is in third (30 days), and thunderstorms are observed least often in St. Petersburg (18 days). You can read more about where thunderstorms most often occur in Russia in a study by Yandex Weather analysts.