Describing unusual winter lightning could help extend the lifespan of wind turbines

20. 08. 2026

Wind turbine blades can “generate” winter lightning under certain conditions. This previously undocumented type of lightning has been described by a team of scientists led by Martin Kákona from the Nuclear Physics Institute of the Czech Academy of Sciences. The discovery could contribute to a better understanding of how lightning forms and to more effective protection of wind turbines against lightning damage.

Under specific winter meteorological conditions, wind turbines can play a significant role in the formation of a previously undescribed type of lightning.

“Despite almost three centuries of research, the formation of lightning remains one of the unresolved questions in atmospheric physics. The newly described phenomenon offers a unique ‘natural laboratory’ in which we can study lightning. Investigating these boundary conditions may help us understand the mechanism of lightning formation in general, not only around wind turbines,” says lead author Martin Kákona of the Nuclear Physics Institute of the Czech Academy of Sciences. He conducted the research in collaboration with experts from the Institute of Atmospheric Physics of the Czech Academy of Sciences and amateur observers from the Czech Thunderstorm Research Association.

A better understanding of this phenomenon could help improve lightning risk assessment and contribute to the development of more effective protection for wind turbines. The results of the research by the scientists and amateur observers have been published in the internationally recognized journal Atmospheric Research.

A new type of winter lightning

The discovery was made possible in part by long-term research into ionizing radiation produced in thunderstorms. Amateur observers from the Czech Thunderstorm Research Association first drew attention to unusual winter lightning near wind farms in 2018–2019. The phenomenon could only be systematically analyzed from 2021 onwards, thanks to the availability of data from the Blitzortung lightning detection network.

The scientists subsequently analyzed four years of measurements from 2021–2024 and supplemented these data with records from the ENTLN network, radar imagery from the Czech Hydrometeorological Institute, and electric field measurements. They identified a recurring phenomenon, which they termed SWAL (Seasonal Wind Turbine-Associated Lightning). According to the authors, this is the first systematic description of this type of lightning in the scientific literature.

SWAL lightning has several common characteristics: it occurs almost exclusively in the immediate vicinity of wind turbines, has negative polarity, and appears during winter conditions with temperatures just above freezing, as cloud systems carrying a strong negative electric charge pass through.

The research also drew on data provided by the Institute of Atmospheric Physics of the Czech Academy of Sciences. Scientists from the institute analyzed the meteorological conditions under which the electrical discharges occurred. “We analyzed the characteristics of the cloud cover, its vertical extent and temperature. We also determined the types of hydrometeors in different parts of the cloud,” explains Zbyněk Sokol of the Institute of Atmospheric Physics of the Czech Academy of Sciences, whose research focuses on modeling electric fields in clouds.

Benefits for science and the energy sector

A better understanding of how these winter lightning discharges form could in the future contribute to more effective protection of wind turbines against lightning damage.

“The research originally focused on fundamental science, but it may have unexpectedly far-reaching practical implications. Previous studies have shown that over the approximately 20-year lifetime of a wind turbine, it is struck by lightning an average of two to three times, causing damage,” adds Ondřej Ploc, a co-author of the study and principal investigator of the CRREAT project, within which the research was carried out.

Article: sciencedirect.com/.../S0169809526004266

Supplementary animation: Winter snowstorm producing only SWAL lightning events: video (mmc3.mp4)

Supplementary animation: Proposed mechanism of SWAL lightning formation (video: video (mmc4.mp4)

Funding

The research was supported by the Cosmic Rays and Radiation Events in the Atmosphere (CRREAT) project (Operational Programme Research, Development and Education, CZ.02.1.01/0.0/0.0/15_003/0000481) and by the Nature and Anthropogenic Georisks project (Operational Programme Jan Amos Komenský, CZ.02.01.01/00/22_008/0004605). The lead author, Martin Kákona, was also supported by a Fulbright–Masaryk Fellowship, during which he collaborated on the project with Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory (USA).

Photos below show damaged rotor blades (source: WINDENERGIE s.r.o.). The last photograph shows Martin Kákona from the NPI.

Describing unusual winter lightning could help extend the lifespan of wind turbines

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