Did you know that more people die from lightning than tornadoes and hurricanes combined? Many are surprised by this startling statistic. Lightning poses a significant risk to one's safety. Most are comforted by the subtle rumble of thunder in the distance; however, this can ultimately indicate that you are in immediate danger of being struck by a deadly lightning strike. There have been hundreds of documented cases where lightning victims are unaware of the weather hazard surroundings during the time preceding the deadly lightning stroke. At any moment during the day, more than one thousand five-hundred thunderstorms are occurring simultaneously. Thunderstorms are such a common occurrence around the world and in the United States that not taking precautionary measures is irresponsible. Any thunderstorm does produce lightning; hence the term "thunder" in the name. Here are some statistics about those who were struck. As expected, the extreme majority of lightning injuries occurred outside (~98%). Of those, one half of those victims were standing under trees or were on or near a body of water. Those 98% who were affected by lightning were nine-tenths male and thirty percent young males (ages 20 - 25).
On many summer afternoon's in our area, building thunderclouds usually signal that a thunderstorm is developing. Within those clouds are tiny water droplets that when sustained in the atmosphere for a long period of time create hail which clash to create particle charges, for lack of a better term. These clashes create a separation of positive and negative charges. The negative charges fall to the bottom part of cumulonimbus cloud while the positive charges rise to the upper tropospheric portion of the cloud. The surface of earth typically also contains a positive charge. When the gradient between the two charges in the air become so strong and tightly packed, a lightning stroke results. Lightning is the sudden discharge of electrical energy and is the release of this buildup of electrostatic charge between the different layers of the atmosphere where a thunderstorm is occurring. This sudden discharge of energy usually occurs in thunderstorms and, more rarely, in dust storms and volcanic eruptions. It is important to know the signs and signatures of a lightning danger in order to protect yourself and others.
The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, the National Aeronautics and Space Administration, and many universities with atmospheric science programs are actively exploring different ways to detect and display lightning globally. While many weather elements are understood well, lightning's cause and the strike location are still unable to determine. Researchers are looking for ways to better forecast lightning's location and frequency in an effort to prevent lightning injuries, damages, and deaths. While the mechanics are not fully understood, lightning is still one of nature's most powerful phenomena. A lightning strike can heat the surrounding air to more than 55,000°F (which is more than five times hotter than the surface of the sun). It heats the air so fast that it compresses and rapidly expands sending sound waves outward from the strikes origin, thunder results.
Those few seconds after a lightning strike in your immediate vicinity is not the time to ponder the question about where to go. The first few seconds can be critical after lightning is seen in the area where you are located during a thunderstorm. You should always remember that metal and water conduct electricity and have the capacity to conduct that electrical energy for long distances. Lightning tends to seek the tallest object, but not always. Different factors including amperage, polarity, and voltage play a role in determining the strike's location. If you are caught outdoors during a lightning storm, do not seek shelter under a tree or canopy, and certainly do not lie flat on the ground. First, look for a hard-topped vehicle that is fully enclosed (e.g. a truck or SUV). If that is not available, go to an enclosed shelter preferably one with plumbing and independent wiring. As a last resort, established the "lightning crouch" position where you are the lowest object and less of a target. More information about the lightning crouch can be obtained below.
Every seconds of every hour of every day more than one hundred cloud-to-ground lightning strokes occur simultaneously. With this statistic, more than six thousand strokes per minute, thirty-six thousand strokes per hour, and more than eight million strokes per day rumble around the globe.
You're thinking: That’s the world not the United States. Unfortunately, the vast majority of severe thunderstorms occur in America where cold air ejects from the northern plains and moist warm air glides from the Gulf of Mexico to create an unstable environment. Not saying that severe thunderstorms have more lightning than regular thunderstorms (in rare cases, non-severe thunderstorms have significantly more), this fact merely emphasizes the favorable dynamics of the United States for thunderstorm development.
According to Viasala Incorporated’s National Lightning Detection Network (NLDN), more than twenty million cloud-to-ground lightning strokes impact the United States each year. In your state, the frequency of lightning could be very low or very high. In the state of Georgia, eight-hundred thousand strikes touch the ground and it ranks eight on the NLDN’s flash densities from 1996 – 2005. The state alone has a flash density of more than twelve flashes per square mile, meaning that lightning could strike the ground every one-hundred fifty thousand square feet.
The Flash-to-Bang method was widely used during the late 1990s and early 2000s as an accurate way to judge the distance of lightning; unfortunately, as described above, lightning can strike much farther than from where one can hear thunder. The “30-30 rule,” as it is commonly referred, assumes that you are able to see lightning within six miles and hear thunder well beyond ten miles. Scientists studying lightning have found that seldom does the sound of thunder reach more than ten miles, even in the most ideal atmospheric conditions.
The first thirty in the method refers to the thirty seconds that you count from the last flash until you hear thunder then divide by that number five which yields six miles (30s/5s=6m), the “thought-to-be” safe distance from lightning. This vastly underestimates lightning’s far reaching ability; and in some cases, lightning strikes more than fifteen miles from precipitation. The second thirty in this method give you a thirty minute “boundary” from the last sound of thunder which again results in a less than adequate safety cushion from lightning.
The advice, "When Thunder Roars, Go Indoors" could not be any more clear. Thunder can be heard from an approaching storm as few as two miles away and almost never more than fifteen miles. Many different factors play a role in your ability to hear thunder including terrain, wind direction, wind speed, storm motion, etc.; regardless, the second you hear thunder, stop your outside activity and seek shelter. Lightning can strike at a distance even father than the distance thunder can travel. Do not be a statistic, get inside a large grounded structure and away from windows and telephones. If no shelter is available, get under a forest of trees and kneel down. The image below shows the position, commonly known as the "lightning crouch", which you should take if caught in a lightning storm.
You may have heard the expression "Stop, Drop, and Roll." But, have you heard of the "lightning crouch"? This position should be used when lightning is very near you when you can not find proper shelter from the lightning hazards present. There are four main steps to successfully completing the lightning crouch: (1) kneel down with the palms of your feet elevated above the ground, (2) crouch down is the fetal position, (3) put your hands over your ears, and (4) wait until you hear thunder at an interval no less than thirty seconds.
Most Likely. To understand why you are still in danger when you hear even the faintest thunder is pretty simple to understand. Lightning is typically six to eight miles long, sometimes longer (documented cases have seen lightning travel more than one hundred miles before impacting the ground). Once the strike impacts the ground, electricity can travel more than fifty feet around the point of impact, and even farther when hitting more conductive surfaces such as water, metal, and concrete. It is important that you stay away from large bodies of water, high isolate objects, and large outdoor open areas as these tend to be more likely to be struck by lightning.
There are many myths regarding how, when, why, and where lightning strikes. Below will help you understand why these myths are not true.
MYTH: Lightning Victims have an electrical charge after being struck
TRUTH: Lightning victims carry no charge; neither do the surrounding surface around the strike object or victim.
MYTH: Lightning always strikes the tallest object.
TRUTH:Not necessarily. There are several determining factors that determine how high the strike may strike (either the tallest or even the lowest object) including the leading stroke's voltage.
