REGINA -- You’ve probably seen us talk about lightning strikes in the past and wondered just how that data is collected.

Short answer: Technology!

Here’s the longer answer:

Environment and Climate Change Canada says it has a network of 80 of these cool devices spread out across the country. They’re lightning detectors. They’re not lightning rods, so their job isn’t to lure in electricity. They contain sophisticated technology to detect lightning strikes and use triangulators to determine their location.

The system records, counts and plots the number of strikes and their exact location 24 hours a day, seven days a week. ECCC says in Southern Saskatchewan, accuracy is at or below 250 metres. So next time you hear that there were a certain number of lightning strikes inside a certain time frame... that’s how we got that information.

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