On Sunday (5 July), a 24-year-old man died while six others were injured due to a lightning strike at Pasir Ris Beach.
Unfortunately, lightning-related deaths and injuries are not uncommon in Singapore, which sees an average of about 176 lightning days per year.
This natural phenomenon can also disrupt day-to-day life, such as the incident in June 2024, when a lightning strike caused a two-hour disruption on the MRT’s North-South Line.
But why does Singapore experience so much lightning? And how can we protect ourselves from them?
To understand why lightning strikes Singapore frequently, it is important to know what the phenomenon is.
While the concept is amusing, there’s actually no angry Greek god sending lighting bolts from his throne in the sky down to our little island.
Inside a thundercloud, when many small pieces of frozen raindrops collide with each other, they create an electrical charge.
When these increase in volume, the negative and positive charges collide with each other, causing lightning.
Source: Simon Lim on Facebook
Lightning can also be created when the negative charges in a storm cloud touch positively charged items on the ground that stick up.
These include trees, telephone poles, blades of grass, and even people.
Most lightning strikes happen within five to six kilometres of a thunderstorm cloud.
However, lightning can still occur without rain and at a distance of over 10 kilometres away from a rain cloud. This is a phenomenon called a “bolt from the blue”.
Singapore experiences 176 lightning days per year on average, among the highest in the world.
“A lightning day is defined as a day when at least one lightning occurrence is visually observed at the Changi climate station,” the Meteorological Service Singapore (MSS) under the National Environment Agency (NEA) told MS News.
Source: Carlos Monforte Lightjunker on Facebook
Typically, Singapore sees the most lightning activity in November, followed by April and May.
These are the Inter-Monsoon months when 50% of all lightning strikes in a year occur.
In fact, in April this year alone, almost 60,000 cloud-to-ground lightning strikes were recorded, according to data on the MSS website.
Source: MSS website
So why does lightning occur more in Singapore?
Thunderstorms are created when warm, moist air encounters wind.
In Singapore’s case, the water that surrounds the island affects local air currents, which then meet our hot and humid climate.
Since the Inter-Monsoon season brings about light and variable winds, lightning activity is more prevalent during these months.
On 5 July, thunderstorms developed around Punggol at 4.30pm and moved westward away from Pasir Ris.
However, it intensified into a large cell which extended over the Straits of Johor.
At the same time, forecasts of thundery showers for the Pasir Ris town centre were issued on the myENV app, and cloud-to-ground lightning was subsequently detected.
“Depending on the settings selected in myENV, users would have received alerts for these events shortly after,” said the MSS.
At around 4.46pm, a lightning strike was detected at the Pasir Ris beach.
This was despite the main thunderstorm cloud still being a few kilometres away.
Image courtesy of Mohd Hakim Musa on Facebook. For illustration purposes only.
A spokesperson from the MSS under NEA said:
Lightning can strike a distance away from the main thunderstorm cloud even when there are no showers.
On the day of the incident, a total of 1,569 lightning strikes were observed in Singapore and its surrounding areas.
The MSS also revealed that between 6,400 and 39,600 lightning strikes were detected over these areas in July over the past 10 years.
Meanwhile, approximately 216,000 to 380,000 were detected annually.
“Our records do not indicate any discernible trend in lightning occurrences over the years,” said the spokesperson to MS News.
Generally, locations in open spaces (e.g. fields, beaches, and parks) are more at risk of lightning strikes.
This is due to the exposure and absence of lightning protection.
As such, it is advised to avoid these places, as well as bodies of water such as swimming pools or the sea, during lightning storms.
To know which areas to avoid in Singapore, you can find real-time lightning information via the myENV app, the MSS website, or by calling the 24hr automated weather hotline at 6542 7788.
On the myENV app and the weather information website, users are alerted if any cloud-to-ground lightning is detected or if there are forecasts of thundery showers within a 6km radius in the next two hours.
“Notifications will also be sent when no lightning activity has been observed over the watch area for the past 30 minutes, or when thundery showers are no longer expected,” the MSS said.
If being in an open space is unavoidable, refrain from holding metal objects.
Source: Allen Low on Facebook
In the event of lightning strikes, remember not to seek shelter under tall trees or small structures.
“Tall structures may also be more susceptible to strikes as they provide a shorter path for charges to reach the ground,” the MSS explained.
Instead, get inside a building or a car immediately.
If there are none nearby, squat close to the ground with your hands on your knees and your head tucked between them.
Lightning strikes can also affect you indoors.
To avoid harm, stay away from windows and refrain from using electronics that are connected to an electrical outlet during a lightning storm.
Image courtesy of akaratwimages on Canva. For illustration purposes only.
Avoid contact with concrete floors and walls, as well as with water, as lightning can travel on steel plumbing.
To protect your pets, remove metal collars, leashes, or harnesses, or replace them with non-metal alternatives.
It is also important to wait at least 30 minutes after thunder is last heard before heading outdoors.
If you witness someone get struck by lightning, call 995 immediately.
Assess if you are in a high-risk area, such as an isolated tree or an open space, and move the victim to a safer location if needed.
Don’t worry about getting electrocuted. Lightning strike victims are safe to touch as they do not carry an electrical charge.
Once you’ve moved to safety, check if the person is breathing and has a pulse.
Otherwise, begin cardiopulmonary resuscitation and continue until help arrives.
If they are breathing normally, check for other injuries and treat them with basic first aid while waiting for medical professionals.
If the area is cold and wet, you can also put a jacket, blanket, or plastic sheet between the person and the ground to avoid hypothermia.
Also read: Man dies after being struck by lightning at Pasir Ris Beach, 6 others sent to hospital
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Featured image adapted from James Gan on Facebook.