‘Lake Victoria and Northern Uganda more prone to lightning’

By NECJOGHA TEAM

Kampala, Uganda – Areas around Lake Victoria and northern Uganda are more prone to lightning than any other part of the country according to experts.

This was revealed by Prof. Ian McKechnie from the University of Witwatersrand, South Africa while speaking at a public lecture in Kampala last week.

“Lightning tendency increases as you move towards the lake shores. For Uganda as you move north and obviously over Lake Victoria, the meteorological conditions affect how much lightning will be there,” Prof.  McKechnie said.

He urged the government to establish measures against lightning and educate the population about the risks.

The World Meteorological Organisation (WMO) in 2016 for the first time included lightning in the official WMO Archive of Weather and Climate Extremes, which is maintained by the WMO Commission for Climatology and documents details of records for heat, cold, wind speed, rainfall and other events.

“Lightning is a major weather hazard that claims many lives each year,” said WMO Secretary-General Petteri Taalas. ”Improvements in detecting and monitoring these extreme events will

help us improve public safety.”

According to a book, Lightning Science and Lightning Protection, Uganda suffers approximately 70 lightning strikes per kilometer a year. Entebbe and Tororo towns are some of the most hit areas. 

Statistics also show that most of those killed by lightning are school going children.

Related articles:

https://public.wmo.int/en/media/press-release/wmo-rules-longest-distance-and-longest-duration-lightning-flashes

http://necjogha.com/2019/06/05/five-people-killed-25-injured-by-lightning/