Features of Winter Thunderstorms in Kamchatka

Abstract

Winter thunderstorms in Kamchatka are a rare meteorological phenomenon. Temporal variations of the quasi-static electric field and meteorological values at the Paratunka observatory of the Institute of Cosmophysical Research and Radio Wave Propagation, Far East Branch, Russian Academy of Sciences (φ = 52.97° N; λ = 158.25° E), as well as data on solar, seismic and cyclonic activities available on INTERNET, are used to study the nature of this phenomenon. It is shown that powerful solar flares accompanied by increased radiation in the visible and infrared spectra, as well as the infrared radiation from the Earth that enters the atmosphere before powerful earthquakes with a magnitude of M > 8 may serve as an additional heat source in the surface atmosphere of Kamchatkan for the formation of thunderstorm activity. The contribution of tropical cyclones to these processes with weak seismic activity is not clearly defined and requires further detailed study.