The City of Lightning: Chiayi is Taiwan’s most electric place
The City of Lightning: Chiayi is Taiwan’s most electric place
2024-03-13
Do you know which region of Taiwan is the most electric? A report by a weather risk firm shows that in 2023, you were most likely to see lightning strike in Chiayi City. The city saw 167 lightning strikes per square kilometer last year. We spoke to a climate expert in Chiayi to find out the science of why the southern city attracts thunder and lightning. And we spoke to a local religious representative, to hear what lightning traditionally means for those working on the land.
An inky sky is lit up by series of flashes. It’s a common sight in Chiayi City.
Chang Jui-cheng
Chiayi Weather Station official
It’s mainly because of the geography. Chiayi City sits at the foot of both the Alishan Range and Yushan. The southwest monsoon rains bring in a lot of air moisture. When it hits the mountains it creates a thermodynamic effect.
A weather risk analysis firm has collated data from lightning monitoring stations. A staggering 10.5 million lightning strikes hit Taiwan last year. If we look at the density of lightning strikes per square kilometer, we see lighting was most likely to strike Chiayi City, with 167 strikes per square kilometer in 2023. Next was Taipei City at 110 strikes per square kilometer, then Hsinchu City at 96, Chiayi County at 92 and Yunlin County at 86. Lightning is a very frequent visitor at midday in summertime in Chiayi, where convection currents are most common and create the special effects.
Chang Jui-cheng
Chiayi Weather Station official
Mountain regions tend to heat up after midday, which leads them to produce afternoon convection cells. They form and then spread out into the flat land, and Chiayi City is in the perfect place to get hit by them.
In September, the frequent lightning strikes in Chiayi even damaged electrical equipment at Lantan Reservoir, including environmental monitoring systems, and cut off a musical fountain show.
As you would expect of such an electric area, Chiayi has its own important lightning god. Lei Gong Temple in Dongshi Township, is dedicated to the Duke of Thunder. Lightning is important for local farming communities.
Liu Chia-hsiang
Dongshi Lei Gong Temple supporter
The lightning season begins in March and continues until fall, more or less. Chiayi is a great farming county, and farms need lightning to wake up all living things on earth.
As an old saying goes, “Every living being comes back to life when the spring thunder rumbles.” A lightning storm heralds the return of spring for farmers here. Now news of their exceptional electricity is making rumbles around the country.
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全台最"雷"城市在這! 嘉義市2023年最受雷神關照
2024-03-13
你知道全台最"雷"的縣市是哪一個嗎？根據天氣風險公司公布，2023年台灣閃電落雷統計，嘉義市以每平方公里超過167次閃電，成為去年全台雷神最關照的縣市。
漆黑的夜空，被一道道的閃電給照亮，在嘉義市常常能看到這種閃電美景。
[[嘉義氣象站技佐 張瑞正]]
“主要是因為地理環境的關係，嘉義市主要在於阿里山跟玉山的山腳底下，西南風帶來豐沛的水氣，然後遇到山就會有熱力作用。”
天氣風險公司根據閃電監測網統計，全台總閃電次數高達1058萬6436次，以各縣市面積密度來看，嘉義市以每平方公里落下167次閃電最高，其次為台北市110次、新竹市96次、嘉義縣92次、雲林縣86次。原來嘉義就是正好是夏季午後"熱對流"發展最旺盛的位置，所以常常會有落雷出現。
[[嘉義氣象站技佐 張瑞正]]
“山區容易有午後加熱的效果，導致我們山區容易長出午後的對流胞，長出來就往平原擴散，嘉義市就是首當其衝的地方。”
落雷不斷，嘉義地區去年九月，還曾因為頻繁落雷，一度造成蘭潭水庫周邊監視系統及音樂噴泉等電子零組件受損，音樂噴泉停止演出。
這麼雷的縣市，也有特別的"雷神"來掌管，嘉義縣東石就有雷公廟，因為雷對嘉義農民來說，非常重要。
[[東石雷公廟信徒 劉嘉祥]]
“三月開始就是雷季，雷季它會延續到大概秋天吧。嘉義是農工大縣，農就需要雷，來驚醒大地的萬物。”
春雷一響、萬物甦醒，雷對於農民來說，就是迎接春天的開始，全台最雷縣市的趣味調查，也引起熱烈討論。
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