This work presents the spatial distribution and temporal variability of lightning activity over the continental territory of Chile by means of Thunderstorms days (Td), on the basis of 7 years (2012–2018) of lightning measurement from World Wide Lightning Location Network (WWLLN). Td are obtained separately for the 15 geopolitical regions of Chile, reporting the higher lightning activity in the northeastern region of the country with 85 thunderstorms days per year. These values are mainly located in the mountains between 2,000 and 5,000 m.a.s.l. where extensive mining activity is located and there are electrical facilities of great importance for Chile. The Td values obtained in this study update the information presented by the World Meteorological Organization (WMO) in 1953, so far the only one available for the entire Chilean territory. From the diurnal cycle analysis, there is a marked mono‐modal behavior of lightning activity in the afternoon for latitudes between S and S (regions XV, I, and II) and a different behavior of lightning activity over the region between S and S (regions X, XI, and XII) known as Chilean Patagonia, due to special weather conditions in that area. Further more, the seasonal analysis showed that the highest lightning activity occurs in January and February and the lowest activity takes place between June and August. Once again, the Chilean Patagonia showed a different behavior because the highest activity is presented in May and August, and the lowest in September. The analysis and results presented here contribute to the knowledge of lightning activity in the region that has not been characterized before and can serve as a basis for future research to determine the behavior of this natural phenomenon.

This article examines the results of measured lightning-induced voltages on a rural distribution circuit in Colombia are presented. The rural network is a branched system with traditional components of the distribution system. The measurements were made in four different points, three of them at the medium voltage side and one at the low-voltage side. A total of 55 measurements was recorded divided between medium- and low-voltage ones. Furthermore, a signal spectrum and statistical analysis were registered in order to infer the main features of the overvoltages. The results show a longer duration on events at the medium voltage side but higher peak voltages at the low-voltage side.

Assessing the lightning performance of real, extensive and highly branched distribution networks is computationally demanding: it requires coupling the electromagnetic field to the line for a large number of Monte Carlo events. This paper proposes a three-stage acceleration method that reduces that burden without compromising accuracy. Events are first pre-screened with an analytical estimate, so only the hazardous ones reach a full coupling simulation. The illumination is then bounded to a distance threshold, with the remaining line represented by a frequency-dependent model that preserves the reflections of the branched topology. Finally, for networks that do not fit in a single case, an optional stage partitions the network into sub-networks solved independently and reconstructed. Every threshold is calibrated against a full-fidelity reference on the same strokes, and the values found are offered as a conservative suggestion for this feeder. Two further elements are addressed: an exposure buffer following the network geometry, and a stopping criterion. The method is evaluated on a real 13.2 kV rural feeder of 116 km spanning about 24 km × 24 km, with an exposure area of 178 km². The acceleration acts on the indirect strokes, the only ones that need the field-to-line coupling; the direct strokes are simulated and reported separately. The computational cost falls by more than one order of magnitude while the error of the exceedance rate of the indirect strokes stays about 1%, and an independent 200,000-stroke campaign confirms statistical consistency. Convergence should be judged from the number of events above the voltage of interest, not from the apparent stabilization of the estimate.