S'pore to monitor lightning activity

S'pore to monitor lightning activity

SINGAPORE (AFP): Singapore is setting up a system to track
lightning activity in the skies and possible ground strikes after
three people struck by lightning died last month.

A spokesman for the meteorological service said the network of
three sensors would map thunderstorm patterns, monitor lightning
and eventually may even forecast electrical activity in the
clouds.

The system will pinpoint the ground locations where lightning
could strike, The Sunday Times reported.

The information will be broadcast in weather updates to help
people engaged in outdoor activities such as golf and other
sports, and aid aviation, transport and communications networks.
Singapore has up to 20 lightning strikes per square kilometer of
its land mass each year, one of the world's highest.

Three people including a 14-year-old boy playing football and
a seven-year-old walking to the bus stop were killed by lightning
last month, matching the toll for all of 1995.