Blitzortung App Review

Quick specs
Recommended for lightning tracking.  Costs: Free Platforms: iOs, Android, web Maps: Aerial, Open Street Map Features: Distance and time of lightning strikes anywhere in the world Offline:  No   www.blitzortung.org

Lightning in the hills is one of the things that scares me most. I’ve discovered how fast I can run with a heavy pack when frightened enough on several occasions. I now watch out for any mention of thunderstorms in weather forecasts and adapt my plans accordingly. Thunderstorms can be very localised though and may sweep past not far away without effecting you at all. Being able to track the speed and direction such storms is useful and interesting.

This app does just that in real time, showing lightning strikes on a map with details of how many strikes there have been and how recent they were. I’ve waited in cafes watching the progress of storms on Blitzortung and waiting for them to pass. More nervously I’ve seen a storm approaching when in the hills and decided to head down by the nearest safe route. Now sometimes of course you can see thunderheads building up and there’s no need for an app to tell you a storm is coming. Often though the sky is overcast or you’re in mist and there’s no indication of thunder and lightning.

Of course you need a phone signal for this – Blitzortung isn’t available offline – but this is available in more and more places, especially on summits which is where this information is most valuable.

Blitzortung is international and you can view a map of the whole world and see where there is any lightning. You can also zoom in quickly to your location and see how close any storm is. The time of strikes is colour coded so you can easily see how recent any are. Overall the maps are easy to read.

I find this a fascinating app and love following the track of lightning strikes, preferably when I’m safe indoors. It is useful for making decisions when walking too.

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