Variability and trends of annual and seasonal thunderstorm frequency over Bangladesh

ABSTRACT The climatology of thunderstorm ( TS ) activities over Bangladesh has been investigated using monthly, seasonal, and annual time series data of 29 meteorological stations in the country for a maximum period of 35 years (1976–2010). The climatology of the TS and its inter‐annual variability and trends have been investigated using country average as well as station‐wise data. The results of the trend analysis show that the country average TS frequency exhibits statistically significant trends for annual and seasonal data, except for winter. The monthly TS frequency shows significant increasing trends for the months April–November. The station‐wise analysis of annual and seasonal data shows dominant increasing trends over the country, with a few stations having negative trends. The correlation…