Salina parks expand lightning detectors, add online countdown to guide play suspensions

Parks staff told the advisory board on June 17 that Salina has added lightning detection units at multiple park sites and now publishes a live countdown on the parks website to show when play can safely resume.

Staff said a lightning detector at Bill Burke Park has operated for years and that units installed this past fall and winter now serve Oakdale Park and Kenwood Cove; a detector on the TPEC roof transmits a radio signal to a horn in Oakdale Park so visitors hear the alarm. The system triggers an auditory alarm when lightning is detected within 10 miles and staff follows a policy that play should not resume until 30 minutes after the last detected strike. The parks department also said the detector package includes a website “countdown” that displays the remaining hold time and resets to 30 minutes if additional strikes are detected.

Board and staff discussed the need for another detector positioned on the hill on Markley Road to serve the golf course and adjacent fields; staff said the city manager has been supportive of locating a unit that would also serve nearby nursing and retirement facilities because of audible range and resident concerns. Staff said they will study placement this fall and into next year to ensure the alarms are audible to nearby residents and vulnerable facilities.

Staff described the detector as an important tool for event and league safety; they noted that, even with turf fields and other improvements, severe weather and lightning alerts will still cause cancellations. No changes to the 30‑minute policy were proposed during the meeting.