When Anne Arundel County Public Schools student-athletes take the field for the first day of spring sports tryouts on March 1, they’ll have additional protection thanks to an automated lightning detection system installed at all 13 comprehensive high schools.
The Earth Networks Total Lightning Network will detect in-cloud and cloud-to-ground lightning within an eight-mile radius of a site. When lightning is detected, a horn will sound for 15 seconds to alert those in the to seek shelter and all activities will be immediately suspended for at least 30 minutes. Simultaneously, a strobe light will be activated on the detection system.
Once lightning has not been detected by the system in the area for 30 minutes (a timeframe that aligns with current guidelines), the light will go out and there will be three five-second horn alerts, along with an all-clear signal sent to the phones of school administrators, coaches and advisors to serve as notification that activities can resume safely. Additional detection of lightning will lengthen the time activities are suspended.
“This is really a big step forward for us not just in athletics but with regard to all of our outdoor activities on high school campuses,” AACPS Coordinator of Athletics Clayton Culp said. “This system enhances safety and brings consistency across all of our sports and schools. We will no longer have to rely on individuals potentially utilizing different apps or other information sources for reliable information to make decisions regarding thunder and lightning.”
The system will be active from 7 a.m. to 10 p.m. seven days a week so that it can benefit recreational teams and others using high school facilities.
Central office and school-based athletics and facilities staff will monitor the new systems and perform tests prior to the start of each sports session. Additionally, the AACPS Athletics website (www.aacps.org/athletics) has a new tab that displays live widgets where visitors can see the current status for all 13 comprehensive high schools. The page can be accessed directly at www.aacps.org/lightning.