Another cool app from Hong Kong Observatory: the lightning detector. Some may scoff, but I think it's cool: cloud-to-ground and cloud-to-cloud lightning strikes. The above shows cloud-to-ground lightning strikes between 9:10-9:39pm on 13 August 2005. More details here.
A little island in the South China Sea is to the southwest of Hong Kong island, as you can see we were treated to a real good show that evening. I saw lightning hit several boats in the harbour, the mast of the weather station at the southern end, and sundry other spots on a little island in the South China Sea. Plus, there was loads of cloud-to-cloud lightning.
Overall, throughout Hong Kong between 9-10pm on that day there were nearly 2,100 cloud-to-ground lightning strikes. More details here.
The lightning detectors are at Chung Hom Kok, Sha Tau Kok and Tsim Bei Tsui (Hong Kong), Sanshui (Foshan, Guangdong province) and Taipa in Macao. I am not sure how the lightning detectors work, or whether they are a Good Thing, but the Pearl River Delta region now has them.
Lastly, a question of the moment: do mobile phones attract lightning? Does anyone know? Shouldn't someone get on to this burning question? Anyway, it looks like it might be prudent to turn off the mob during a storm while visiting the Great Wall near Beijing. Why? Read here.
No comments:
Post a Comment