According to data from the National Center for Hydro-Meteorological Network, in the thunderstorms this morning, April 25, from 1:30 to 5:00, it is estimated that there were more than 23,000 lightning strikes on the ground and thunderstorms in the clouds. This information has received much attention from the people.
Mr. Nguyen Vinh Thu, Director of the Center for Hydrometeorological Monitoring, informed reporters about the things to note about the above data.
Sir, the number of lightning strikes last night and this morning surprised and worried many people. Is this the actual number of lightning recorded in Northern Vietnam?
- In fact, the figure of more than 23,000 lightning beams is the total number of electrons recorded by the observation system over a large area of space, not limited to Vietnam. The current monitoring system includes 18 lightning positioning stations covering the whole country, each station capable of scanning lightning in a radius of 400 - 600 km. Therefore, the scope of statistics may expand to Laos, Cambodia, Thailand and part of the East Sea.
More importantly, lightning is not an object on the ground but moves through clouds at very different speeds. Therefore, it is not possible to count according to administrative boundaries normally.
23,000 lightnings include the number of lightning strikes between the clouds and from the cloud to the ground. The amount of lightning struck to the ground less than 50% of the above figures. And in fact, the number of thunder we feel in the North will be much less.
So if nearly 50% of lightning is recorded on the ground, why can't people feel such a large number? Is this contradictory, sir?
- With modern equipment, every time electricity is sent between the clouds and from the cloud to the ground, it is collected. In fact, the intensity of the lightning will be very different.
Lightning is weak in intensity, and we may not feel it with the normal senses. Only when the intensity of the lightning is large enough can we feel the lightning and thunder.
Therefore, there is no uniformity between the number of lightning beams that the device can count with the number of thunderstorms according to the common concept.
With the high frequency of thunderstorms during the changing seasons, how can people monitor and prevent them effectively, sir?
- I want to emphasize that lightning is always a surprise factor. Just one lightning could damage life and property. A scientific statistic shows that 70% of lightning worldwide occurs in the tropics. In which, Vietnam is located in the thunderstorm area of Asia. During the current monsoons, the risk of thunderstorms will be higher than at other times of the year.
Currently, we have provided a real-time thunderstorm location map on the website www.hymetnet.gov.vn. The maps displaying thunderstorms that we provide intuitively for the community to refer to increase precautions when seeing thunderstorms near our locality.
Scientific statistics are not consistent with the number of thunderstorms we still think. Instead, we should focus on improving prevention and applying lightning prevention rules to minimize damage.
Sincerely thank you!
