I was watching this map light up last night. WOW
Where was our friends at TWC getting their "live" lightning data they were displaying last night?
Yeah, it was a great test of my new setup
There are commercial networks. The most prominent is the "National Lightning Detection Network" run by Vaisala. The last I'd heard, that costs at least $90/month subscription fee PLUS a startup cost. I'm guessing TWC gets their data from one of the commercial options.
I've done Google searches for other free realtime lightning map options, too, and come up empty. But I was curious if anyone knew of any.
If it really IS the only one, then I think the Blitzortung folks (and, of course, participants) are not just participating in a great weather/electronics/RF hobby, but they're providing a public service, as well.
More and more impressed.