Thunderstorm occurrence and characteristics in Central Europe under different synoptic conditions

•Strong correlation between synoptic type and thunderstorm distribution in Central Europe•Significant dependence between various cell attributes and the synoptic types•Potential for support in medium-range thunderstorm forecasting

The occurrence and characteristics of thunderstorms in Central Europe are examined in relation to the predominant synoptic conditions as derived from an automatic classification of synoptic patterns. Lightning strokes measured by a lightning detection network, human thunderstorm observations at weather stations and convective cells derived from radar reflectivity are used. The analysis reveals conditions favourable for thunderstorm development and highlights regions affected under different flow regimes. Additionally, the cell-based analysis shows that different synoptic conditions are typically associated with specific cell characteristics, such as the direction and speed of movement or cell sizes and severity. These relationships can be explained meaningfully via a description of the synoptic-meteorological characteristics of each of the standard weather patterns. As such these results may support a better understanding of thunderstorm formation as well as improve forecasters' situational awareness.