Queen Creek will test lightning notification system

Queen Creek will be testing its lightning notification system at the Recreation and Aquatic Center on Thursday.  

The testing will take place from 9:30 to 10 a.m. to ensure noise levels have a minimal impact on adjacent neighborhoods.

The Queen Creek Recreation and Aquatic Center is still under construction at Frontier Family Park, 20039 S. 220th St.

In February, the town installed and tested new lightning detection systems at Founders' Park, Desert Mountain Park and Mansel Carter Oasis Park. The units enable staff to enhance lightning safety awareness among park and pool patrons.

The notification systems are self-contained weather stations that monitor local real-time conditions. The systems alert people to nearby  lightning using sirens, strobe lights and a PA announcement, a town press release stated.

When lightning is reported within 10 miles of a unit at the Recreation and Aquatic Center, one, five-second-long siren blast will be heard, the strobe lights on top of the unit will start to flash and an automated PA message will tell patrons to exit the aquatic center and seek shelter indoors or in their vehicles.

When lightning is not detected within 10 miles for 30 minutes, the strobe light will stop flashing,  the unit will sound two short blasts and the automated PA message will alert residents that the aquatic center has reopened.

The center's grand opening is tentatively set for March 29, with the aquatic center opening at the end of May.