Blitzortung – real time lightning strikes around the world

Data sources and detection method

• Network uses >500 volunteer lightning receivers plus central servers.
• Each station records ~1 ms of VLF signal at >500 kHz, time‑stamped via GPS with microsecond precision and sent to servers.
• Strikes are located via time‑of‑arrival triangulation across stations; Wikipedia link on Blitzortung’s method is shared.
• VLF propagation in the Earth–ionosphere waveguide allows detection of storms thousands of kilometers away; range depends on direction (west→east) and night vs day.
• Users are impressed that sensors in Europe, US, New Zealand etc. can detect strikes across oceans.

Hardware, coverage, and openness

• Data comes from crowdsourced hardware; users can see nearby detectors on a separate map interface.
• Some say the detector program appears frozen or hard to join; others note a newly released detector but unclear how to obtain it.
• Multiple commenters report being on waitlists for many years and frustrated by limited availability and cost.
• Historic data is restricted to contributors; non‑contributors resort to scraping live data, arguing the data is under Creative Commons / database rights, but legal status is debated.
• Several criticize the model as “open‑but‑not‑really,” while still sympathizing with resource limits.

APIs and third‑party services

• Integration with Home Assistant exists; it proxies data via MQTT to respect Blitzortung’s rule that third‑party apps must not use their WebSocket directly.
• Some avoid building direct client libraries to honor this policy.
• lightningmaps.org and Windy are cited as alternative visualizations using the data; some feel lightningmaps.org has degraded recently.

Use cases and automations

• Common uses: tracking storms for hiking, golf, swimming pools, and general situational awareness.
• Home automation examples include:
  • Alerts and rules around showering or using the pool when lightning is approaching.
  • Automations that adjust lighting to current weather and announce laundry completion based on power sensing.
• Environment Canada and satellite systems (GOES lightning mapper) are mentioned; satellites are seen as less precise but complementary.

Randomness and extreme events

• People discuss using lightning as an entropy source. Some point to RANDOM.ORG’s atmospheric‑noise approach; others argue lightning timing/location is correlated (e.g., “sympathetic lightning”) and thus weaker entropy.
• A subthread speculates that the VLF network could, in principle, detect nuclear detonations due to strong EMP signatures, though this remains purely speculative in the discussion.

Safety, showers, and risk perception

• Large subthread on whether showering during thunderstorms is dangerous:
  • One side: lightning can enter via plumbing or wiring, especially in older or poorly grounded buildings; agencies warn against using showers and corded appliances during storms.
  • Other side: actual risk is argued to be extremely low compared with everyday hazards; some cite sparse case reports and worry this overemphasizes rare events (neglect of probability).
  • Differences in building codes and grounding across countries are noted; some authorities (e.g., UK) consider showers safe if equipotential bonding is up to standard.
• There is debate on whether time spent engineering elaborate “shower safe” indicators is better spent improving grounding or addressing more likely risks (e.g., slips and falls).
• Many participants ultimately treat avoiding showers during nearby lightning as a low‑cost precaution rather than a major source of fear.

Miscellaneous observations

• Users note constant global lightning activity and suggest 3D visualizations.
• Some mention related citizen‑science projects (e.g., Raspberry Shake for seismology).
• UX issues: a mobile user reports an almost opaque cookie banner blocking the page in some browsers.
• Minor curiosities discussed include the South America flag used on the site and the historical connection between lightning, spark‑gap transmitters, and the word for “radio” in some languages.