HKO releases hourly lightning counts

Starting from today (August 16), the Hong Kong Observatory will release on its "lightning location information" webpage the number of lightning strokes recorded each hour in Hong Kong in the current and previous three days. This is to enable members of the public to have instant information about changes in lightning activity.

Since its launch in June this year, the lightning location information has been well received by the public, media and organisations from practically every sector. There were more than 530,000 visits to the webpage in just over a month. The observatory also received many requests for information on lightning counts. To meet this demand, the number of lightning strokes recorded each hour in Hong Kong in the current and previous three days is now available on the following website: http://www.weather.gov.hk/wxinfo/llis/stat.htm. This enables members of the public to have immediate access to the latest changes and to easily search for information concerning the previous three days.

Mr Lam Chiu Ying, Director of the Hong Kong Observatory, said: "The newly installed Lightning Location Network has been put to good use during the last few thunderstorm occasions. In particular, the one on July 20 made us appreciate the power of Mother Nature, when nearly 10,000 lightning strokes were detected in two hours. From now on, the public, the business and industry sectors will have at their fingertips the latest information on lightning counts. This, together with the real-time lightning location map, will enable them to get to grips with the threat posed by thunderstorms on personal safety and on their work, and to stay prepared."

Distribution of lightning locations during thunderstorms at the night of 13 August.

Some 2100 cloud-to-ground lightning strokes were detected over Hong Kong between 9 and 10 p.m. on 13 August.