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Paul M. Walsh/AP
Lightning Causes More Injuries, Deaths During Busy July
July 28, 2008 12:41 PM
Several people around the United States have suffered lightning-related injuries during the month of July, including at least a dozen this past weekend.
30-Second Summary
July has lived up to its reputation for being peak lightning season.
On July 27, at least 12 people in New York and New Jersey were struck by lightning; one person was killed. Earlier in the month, five other people around the United States were killed by lightning in less than a week.
According to the National Weather Service, around 62 people a year die from lightning strikes; 23 have died so far in 2008. The agency celebrated “Lightning Safety Week” in June 2008 to teach the public about the dangers of lightning.
There are some helpful tips that can reduce your chances of being struck by lightning.
“Instinct often leads to danger,” writes the Globe and Mail. For example, trees may seem like a good shelter from rain, but they can act as a “natural lightning rod.” It’s best to stay in the open, but don’t lie flat on the ground; doing so could increase your vulnerability to a lightning strike that hits the ground and fans outward.
The National Weather Service applies a more general standard to outdoor lightning safety: “When thunder roars, go indoors!” Fully-enclosed buildings are safer than open structures like picnic shelters or dugouts.
There are also myths about lightning safety, such as the common idea that wearing rubber-soled shoes prevents lightning from traveling through a person’s body to the ground. (It doesn’t.)
On July 27, at least 12 people in New York and New Jersey were struck by lightning; one person was killed. Earlier in the month, five other people around the United States were killed by lightning in less than a week.
According to the National Weather Service, around 62 people a year die from lightning strikes; 23 have died so far in 2008. The agency celebrated “Lightning Safety Week” in June 2008 to teach the public about the dangers of lightning.
There are some helpful tips that can reduce your chances of being struck by lightning.
“Instinct often leads to danger,” writes the Globe and Mail. For example, trees may seem like a good shelter from rain, but they can act as a “natural lightning rod.” It’s best to stay in the open, but don’t lie flat on the ground; doing so could increase your vulnerability to a lightning strike that hits the ground and fans outward.
The National Weather Service applies a more general standard to outdoor lightning safety: “When thunder roars, go indoors!” Fully-enclosed buildings are safer than open structures like picnic shelters or dugouts.
There are also myths about lightning safety, such as the common idea that wearing rubber-soled shoes prevents lightning from traveling through a person’s body to the ground. (It doesn’t.)
Headline Link: Lightning Safety Awareness Week
A storm system moving from Maine to Maryland resulted in violent weather activity in the Northeast on July 27. “This is the first time in anybody’s memory that this has occurred,” a National Park Service spokesman said after a man was killed by lightning in New Jersey. “I’ve been here for 17 years, and it has never occurred on my watch.”
Source: The New York Times
“Typically, July marks the peak in lightning activity. It’s also the time when people are vacationing, so they are outside and they are vulnerable to lightning,” stated John Jensenius, a lightning safety expert with the National Weather Service.
Source: International Herald Tribune
Background: Lightning Safety Week
To call attention to the issue of lightning safety, the National Weather Service declared June 22–June 28, 2008, "Lightning Safety Week." A lightning strike can cause a multitude of injuries to a person, including dizziness, sleep disorders, joint stiffness and fatigue. The National Weather Service believes more lightning injures occur each year than are reported because people either don’t seek medical help, or doctors don’t record injuries as a lightning strike.
Source: National Weather Service
Related Topics: Lightning safety tips; human lightning rod
Lightning safety
The National Lightning Safety Institute recommends that anyone swimming outdoors who sees lightning apply a “Flash-to-Bang” test to determine if lightning is too close to swim safely. After seeing a flash of lightning, start counting. Five seconds between the flash and the bang of thunder represents one mile, a ratio that can be used to determine how far away the storm is. Evacuate the water at a flash-to-bang count of 30.
Source: National Lightning Safety Institute
The National Weather Service has advice for managing lightning dangers in a variety of situations, such as on camping trips, at the beach and when coaching a sports team outdoors.
Source: National Weather Service
Roy Sullivan
Former U.S. park ranger Roy Sullivan holds the record for worst luck with being struck by lightning. He was hit seven times between 1942 and 1977, earning him the title of “The Human Lightning Rod.” Sullivan committed suicide in 1983, upset over relationship problems. Experts say his emotional distress likely resulted from being struck by lightning so many times.
Source: Globe and Mail
Reference: Weather
Read “Nature Wages War,” findingDulcinea’s series of articles on extreme weather, for more information about weather and climate.
Source: findingDulcinea
Arkansas experienced a rare phenomenon in 2006 when a rainbow and lightning filled the sky at the same time. Lightning usually occurs during a storm, and rainbows generally form after the rain has stopped.
Source: Daily Mail
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