The Jefferson County Department of Parks and Recreation will soon have new weather detection equipment to help monitor dangerous storms.
Director Tim Pigg said Mike O’Sullivan, a former county resident and Herculaneum High School alum, donated a lightning monitoring system to the county on May 17.
Pigg said the system will most likely be installed on top of the Jefferson County Courthouse in Hillsboro, 300 Main St.
He said the system has the capability to spot lightning strikes across Missouri. It will also include a camera for parks department staff to monitor the surrounding area.
“(The system) will notify my people if there is lightning in the area – which is crucial if you’re doing a soccer program in the area and you have a hundred kids on our fields at any given time,” Pigg said.
He said the system is worth $12,599.
O’Sullivan’s company, cyclonePORT, based in Cumming, Ga., is providing V.3 Plus Boltec LR lightning monitoring hardware as part of the donation. According to its website, cyclonePORT manufactures and installs live weather monitoring equipment for schools, municipal buildings, television stations, cell towers, marinas and other locations.
Pigg said the county’s lightning monitor will triangulate with other connected devices nationwide to pinpoint lightning strikes with fast and precise results.
“It’s a pretty cool system,” Pigg said. “It’s going to enhance the ability for us to know where lightning is, as well as storms.
“Whenever (cyclonePORT) adds a new system, it just makes locating the lightning that much tighter.”
The Jefferson County Council voted unanimously May 13 to accept the donation of the lightning monitoring equipment. Councilman Charles Groeteke (District 4, Barnhart) commended O’Sullivan for the donation.
“It looks like this will be a pretty good addition to the county,” he said.