The Department of Meteorology issued an Amber advisory for severe lightning at 11.00 a.m. on Saturday, in effect until 11.30 p.m. the same day, Hiru News reported.
The advisory covers:
- Uva Province
- Eastern Province
- Jaffna, Mullaitivu, Vavuniya and Polonnaruwa districts
Thundershowers with severe lightning are likely at several locations across these areas. The department said localised strong winds of a temporary nature may also occur during the thundershowers, and advised the public to take adequate precautions to limit damage from lightning.
This is a different system from the south-west warning
The advisory should not be confused with the rainfall increase forecast for the south-west of the island from 19 September, which is tied to a low-pressure area near the Andaman Islands and rising levels in the Kalu and Kelani basins.
Saturday’s amber advisory points the other way — at the north, east and hill-country south-east. Between the two, the warning areas now run across most of the country from opposite directions, though the two are reported separately and Hiru does not link them.
What an amber advisory means
Sri Lanka’s Met Department grades lightning advisories by colour, with amber sitting above a routine forecast and below a red warning. It signals conditions in which lightning is likely to be severe enough to cause injury or damage, rather than an expectation of widespread destruction.
Lightning is a persistent cause of death in Sri Lanka, with fatalities concentrated among people caught in the open — in paddy fields, on water, and under isolated trees, which are the worst available shelter. The standard advice is to move indoors or into a vehicle and to stay off elevated and exposed ground until well after the last strike.
Not reported
Hiru does not give the rainfall amounts expected, name specific towns at risk, or say whether the advisory is expected to be extended or upgraded. It does not report whether any damage, injuries or deaths have already been recorded in the advisory area, and gives no figure for lightning deaths so far this year.
It is not stated whether schools, outdoor work or fishing activity in the affected districts are subject to any restriction.