The idea that lightning “never strikes twice” in the same spot is a deadly one.

Lightning, although seemingly random and intermittent, “has killed more people than tornadoes and hurricanes combined,” says Mike Eilts, president and chief executive officer of Norman-based Weather Decision Technologies, Inc. (WDT). Lightning often has stricken the same spot twice, Elits says, a fact he has made his business to know. “ The notion that lightning never strikes twice is an old wives’ tale,” he said.

Eilts, a meteorologist who was a key executive with the National Severe Storms Laboratory in Norman for 18 years, formed WDT just six years ago to develop proprietary weather forecasting models for sale to other private weather companies such as WeatherNews, another weather company that recently located to Norman.

WDT has developed a lightning prediction model that pinpoints within 200 meters where a storm’s lightning will strike on the landscape. The model is 95 percent accurate, Elits said.

In October 2004, WDT commissioned “LightningTrax,” a proprietary service for weather dependent industries such as casualty insurance companies, agricultural businesses and oil and gas drilling ventures. The service records precisely the pattern lightning takes when clouds unleash their potent energy to destroy structures on the ground. It also records with great accuracy the date and time when a lightning bolt descends to do its damage.

A similar WDT forensic model is available to track and predict the routes hail takes across the landscape.

“Most of the big weather companies become users and resellers of our products,” Elits said. “After two years of preparation, our lightning detection and prediction network now covers the entire U.S. and reaches into the Caribbean.”

WDT has demystified seemingly unpredictable lightning by developing mathematical algorithms from the known dynamics of the atmosphere. “Last hurricane season had great stuff for us,” Elits said. “For instance, we recorded lightning in rain bands spiraling from Hurricane Katrina. Next we’ll research how lightning reflects the strengthening or decaying of storms. This could be invaluable t providing more advance warning for those in the path of hurricanes and tornadoes.”

Three years ago, WDT and TOA Systems of Florida partnered in developing the lightning detection and forecasting system. TOA, which builds lightning detection sensors, and WDT executed agreements with electric cooperatives throughout the country. In exchange for installing the sensors on their power grids, the co-ops receive free advance warning of where lightning may damage the electrical infrastructure and cause intages.

“We’re the Intel inside the weather industry,” Elits said. “We test the accuracy of our lighting prediction model by recording the number of times lightning strikes electric towers throughout the country. Some of the towers have been struck many, many times.”

Lightning prediction may someday be a routine part of the weather report soccer mom and golfers check each day, Elits said. Cell phone companies, especially, could one day notify customers of impending lightning strikes, Elits predicted.

Until that day arrives, it might be prudent to keep well away from any prominent form on the landscape when lightning stitches down from darkened skies.

“In some spots, lightning has been known to strike many times,” Elits said. “In other places we can predict with great accuracy where it will occur.”