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The HWT forecasters noted enhanced lightning activity in both merging and splitting convective cells. This trend is important for forecasters to be aware of, especially in the interest of issuing timely warnings and monitoring the intensity of discrete storms.

High-density, bright, and/or small flashes tend to be collocated with convection and strong updrafts. The color maps in the GLM gridded products effectively draw forecaster attention to areas with the most intense convection in broad-coverage systems. In these cases, the gridded products complement IR and radar well, providing a clearer picture on the situation, especially with warning operations.

One of the most often-used GLM applications is tracking convective evolution. The GLM has a high-resolution temporal scale, which allowed HWT forecasters to closely monitor the storm strength. It was also noted that spikes in GLM gridded products were collocated with rapid intensification. These trends would aid forecasters in warning operations and overall environmental awareness.

GLM gridded products (especially Average Flash Area) captured the areal extent of lightning better than ground-based lightning detection networks. According to HWT forecasters, this information would be invaluable to warning-issuance operations, public outreach regarding the dangers of lightning, and debriefings with emergency personnel.

In several cases, forecasters at the HWT noted that the GLM showed the initial flashes. These flashes often had several minutes of lead time on both of the ground-based lightning detection networks and IR cloud top cooling signatures, which would ultimately allow forecasters in nowcasting situations to pinpoint areas of convective development with additional lead time.