Skills:Lightning & Storm Safety and Weather Prediction

Brian Jones

Brian Jones

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I found these amazing pics, and got to thinking, we need a discussion on lightning and storm safety, in different terrains and environments. When you look at these shots, it reminds you of the awesome power of nature. So, what do you all do when caught in a storm in the boonies?

lightning_strikes_tree.jpg


lightning_direct_tree.jpg
 
You seek shelter. By the time the lightning is audible at your position, it can kill you.

I was present at a lightning strike about as close as that second picture. Literally hundreds of feet away.

I had just exited a commuter train when this phenomenal pink flash occurred. Suddenly, I got hit by this wall of sound that I felt through the entire torso.

Ears ringing, eyes still seeing pink... I had no idea what happened.

As I finally got my orientation back, and my entire body was dealing with an adrenaline shot, I realized that lightning had hit about 200 feet away. A small tree near the train station was completely up in flames. People around me were completely confused (as was I!) by what had happened.

Edited to add: Didn't see the strike until it hit. Didn't feel the tingly stuff until afterward. Do NOT count on any warning signs beyond the ones already there: flashes of light and loud cracks. That's all the warning you're getting.

It was quite impressive, to say the least.
 
Wow! Amazing story, Watchful! Okay, what if you are on open terrain, above the treeline, or in a barren area, with no shelter available?
 
Speaking as someone between the Great Lakes and Midwest, I get plenty of lightning by me.

In open terrain, you usually get fair warning. Distant flashes. Quiet rumbling and distant noise.

If you are in open, barren terrain, time to move out. DIVERT your heading to safety. Lightning moves at near the speed of light.

If you are above the treeline, time to COME DOWN.

If you are high up, time to DESCEND.

No need to hurry at this point: just start packing and get moving.

Danger: When you can distinctly identify the flash and its sound, now is the time to move quite fast. In other words, if you're at that "(flash) one mississippi... two mississippi..." stage where you can count between flash and bang, it's time to MOVE.

If the lightning is overhead, and somehow you've been caught unawares and are exposed, get down into a crouch. Do NOT lay down.

If you lay down, you are exposing skin to potential. If you crouch, your shoes provide more insulation than wet skin.

Crouch: keep your hands over your head, and do NOT touch the ground. If you do get hit, your hands will protect your brain better than your head.

Keep your eyes closed: as my story indicates, you can be blinded for several seconds.

You may be like this for a few minutes. When you start to hear a discernible difference between the flash and the bang, run to safety away from the direction of the storm.

Remember about side flashes: a lightning strike can hit something close by you, and the explosive impact can physically transfer to you some distance away. That was the pulse I felt in my story. Had I been closer to the tree, it could have knocked me over, or even stopped my heart. No joke there.

Obviously, don't hide under a tall tree. Seek cover lower to the ground (any makeshift shelter can work) or find a rock ledge to get under. If you elect to jump into a ditch or trench, and it's raining, face up the contour line. That ditch can turn into a fast-moving river in a couple of seconds in a flash flood. You want to see that coming.
 
What about insulation from the ground? Are caves safe? Is it safe in a forest with many trees as opposed to the single dangerous tree in a field? What can you use for protection? Do rubber soles really work? Are you safe in your house? What are the specifics of car safety?

Watchful, I have a similar story from high school I'll share in a bit as well. Edit: we posted at the same time watchful, I'll read yours and adjust...
 
texastonydobbs said:
Great post & pics...Brian.. and watchful great story bro...glad your alive...
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Thanks man! I wasn't really in any direct danger. But it illustrates that even 200 feet away (which is pretty far, actually, than most people would think to stand), it was like getting hit by a bomb. I understood academically how powerful lightning was prior to that, but having experienced the *blast* of it, it leaves quite an appreciation. :thumbup:

Brian Jones said:
What about insulation from the ground? Are caves safe? Is it safe in a forest with many trees as opposed to the single dangerous tree in a field? What can you use for protection? Do rubber soles really work? Are you safe in your house? What are the specifics of car safety?
Click to expand...

Caves tend to be very safe. It's where I would prefer to be in a storm lacking better shelter.

A forest with trees is generally safer than a lone tree, to be sure. But stay low. Remember, too, that if a tree gets hit, its sap boils instantly and the tree explodes. You can get hit with chunks and splinters of wood moving at the speed of sound or better. More trees: more cover for you, and more potential targets for the lightning besides yourself. But I would still stay low as possible.

Your home is generally quite safe. Homes here do get hit from lightning, but the danger to the occupants comes from the resulting fire, and not the lightning itself. It can punch a good sized hole in your roof out here that starts the wood sheeting on fire.

A car is pretty much the safest you can be. The tires provide superb insulation. You probably don't want to be stepping out of the car with one foot on the ground when it hits, of course. But inside the car, it's hard to imagine lightning even finding its path through your vehicle. Your car would suffer probably no real damage beyond some scorched paint.

Regarding your footwear, there's probably not enough solid rubber in your shoes to protect you fully. But any footwear is safer than none! Note that if you've been out in the rain, and your feet are soaking wet, you have a potential circuit there: the water will conduct a hit nearby into your feet through the water logged in your shoes! This is pretty extreme.

Special note that Brian didn't mention: get out of water. Boats *can* be fairly safe, but I'd be cautious about being in one during a heavy electrical storm. And swimming is a definite NO. A strike anywhere near the water can kill you. There's that much electricity in a strike.
 
Great response Watchful. I'm multi-tasking here, so I will review more thoroughly tonight. When is a cave dangerous in a lightning storm? What factors might make it dangerous? There are specific factors that make some a coffin.

What should you do to ensure your car is safe? What about convertibles? Your house? Is that really safe?

I was going to go to the water question next. Boats? Pool? Lake? Boat materials, size? cabin or no cabin?
 
Watchful said:
Speaking as someone between the Great Lakes and Midwest, I get plenty of lightning by me.

In open terrain, you usually get fair warning. Distant flashes. Quiet rumbling and distant noise.

If you are in open, barren terrain, time to move out. DIVERT your heading to safety. Lightning moves at near the speed of light.

If you are above the treeline, time to COME DOWN.

If you are high up, time to DESCEND.

No need to hurry at this point: just start packing and get moving.

Danger: When you can distinctly identify the flash and its sound, now is the time to move quite fast. In other words, if you're at that "(flash) one mississippi... two mississippi..." stage where you can count between flash and bang, it's time to MOVE.

If the lightning is overhead, and somehow you've been caught unawares and are exposed, get down into a crouch. Do NOT lay down.

If you lay down, you are exposing skin to potential. If you crouch, your shoes provide more insulation than wet skin.

Crouch: keep your hands over your head, and do NOT touch the ground. If you do get hit, your hands will protect your brain better than your head.

Keep your eyes closed: as my story indicates, you can be blinded for several seconds.

You may be like this for a few minutes. When you start to hear a discernible difference between the flash and the bang, run to safety away from the direction of the storm.

Remember about side flashes: a lightning strike can hit something close by you, and the explosive impact can physically transfer to you some distance away. That was the pulse I felt in my story. Had I been closer to the tree, it could have knocked me over, or even stopped my heart. No joke there.

Obviously, don't hide under a tall tree. Seek cover lower to the ground (any makeshift shelter can work) or find a rock ledge to get under. If you elect to jump into a ditch or trench, and it's raining, face up the contour line. That ditch can turn into a fast-moving river in a couple of seconds in a flash flood. You want to see that coming.
Click to expand...

Very good information here. I've had a couple of close calls and as a result, I take no chances with lightning.

Me and some friends once got caught in a very heavy hail storm halfway up a mountain side in the Collegiate Range up in Colorado. The storm came over the ridge with little warning and we were left with no option but to take shelter under the trees to keep from getting beat to death by the hail. Things looked good for a bit... and then the lightning started. Talk about a sick feeling. Either we leave the shelter of the trees and get beat up or we stay under the trees and risk a lightning strike. I still remember taking my camera from my backpack and snapping a pic of the three of us under a tree with the hail in the background. I thought if we were killed, someone would find my camera, process the film and figure out why three experienced outdoors types would be hunkered under some trees in a lightning storm. I still have that picture somewhere but I'll never forget that image of us that vulnerable.

The second close encounter was at a tennis court. They were just starting a tournament that had been delayed for an hour or so by a thunderstorm. The weather had let up, the courts had dried and there hadn't been any thunder for thirty minutes or longer. The next thing I remember was a blinding light, an explosion and what felt like a surge of energy passing through my right foot.

Obviously, lightning had struck but I was in too much shock initially realize it. I looked behind me and noticed a woman, who had been sitting in a lawn chair earlier, picking herself up off the ground. Directly above her, the roof of the tennis center was scorched and burning. There was also a smell in the air I can't describe. Finally it all added up. We'd narrowly missed a direct lightning strike. It was a wonder that none of the 10-15 people standing next to the tennis center or under the big Live Oak next to it were hurt. This was pretty much your "bolt out of the blue-- the rain had stopped, the bad weather had passed and the sky was clearing. For several hours afterwards I didn't feel right. Like my internal electrical system had been shorted, or maybe it was just adrenaline. Either way, to this day, lightning spooks me and I'll do my best to get the hell out of it if at all possible.

The last thing I'll say here is I hate seeing sports teams out practicing when I can see lightning in the distance. I think they have no idea how far from a storm a bolt of lightning can strike.
 
Brian Jones said:
When is a cave dangerous in a lightning storm? What factors might make it dangerous? There are specific factors that make some a coffin.

What should you do to ensure your car is safe? What about convertibles? Your house? Is that really safe?

I was going to go to the water question next. Boats? Pool? Lake? Boat materials, size? cabin or no cabin?
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I would propose that the danger of seeking shelter in a cave is more from related dangers such as flash-flooding, as well as your usual cave risks of slipping in too deep, oxygen loss, or collapse. But you needn't go too deep to dodge lightning: just get dirt and rock overhead.

Your home is probably as safe as it will be. Homes are almost always built to local building code amendments on top of national codes; these codes have considered isoceraunic factors: a home in Florida is theoretically more tolerant of lightning than a typical home in Northern California.

Again, your risk in a home from lightning is the associated danger of fire, not the lightning itself.

A car sitting on good tires is very well protected overall. If the lightning can't find a good path to ground, it hits something else.

As for boats, I'm not sure you've got much protection; but below deck in a Bayliner has got to be better than sitting in the ocean in a kayak.

But again: check your weather. If there's lightning on the horizon, start heading for shore.
 
Watchful said:
I would propose that the danger of seeking shelter in a cave is more from related dangers such as flash-flooding, as well as your usual cave risks of slipping in too deep, oxygen loss, or collapse. But you needn't go too deep to dodge lightning: just get dirt and rock overhead.

Your home is probably as safe as it will be. Homes are almost always built to local building code amendments on top of national codes; these codes have considered isoceraunic factors: a home in Florida is theoretically more tolerant of lightning than a typical home in Northern California.

Again, your risk in a home from lightning is the associated danger of fire, not the lightning itself.

A car sitting on good tires is very well protected overall. If the lightning can't find a good path to ground, it hits something else.

As for boats, I'm not sure you've got much protection; but below deck in a Bayliner has got to be better than sitting in the ocean in a kayak.

But again: check your weather. If there's lightning on the horizon, start heading for shore.
Click to expand...

Good stuff. In shallow caves, besides flash flooding, you are in more danger if the cave has water dripping down the walls, or if moisture content is high. The moisture combined with the minerals can cause a lightning strike to travel right in, and immolate you while inside. Keep 'em coming. Watchful, great answers! I'll post more, too.

Texas Slim: Damn!!! That was a scary one, I'll bet!
 
while playing Baseball as a kid I saw some of my team mates get struck on the field...I just went into the dugout for my glove and Bang...We were retaking the field...Nobody died, but I was so close my skin crawled...You could feel it in the air...I've also been in other places and have witnessed some scary moments...Mother nature is sure wild.... I was also boating in Westport at CPYC one time yrs ago and lighting hit a boat right in front of me...I was towing 5 others in at the time...I was holding a stainless steel steering wheel on the tow boat...My hair was standing straight up....Well we made it back ok and the boat that got hit lost about 250.000 dollars in electrical equipment...Not a sole got hurt on board...There were 13 people on the big sail boat
 
About 10 years ago, my neighborhood got hit by a pretty bad storm. Strikes at or next to 3 of about 10 homes. 1 house, a giant log home, was directly hit, and burned to the foundation as firefighters weren't able to do much through the roof (some dual layer composite), and due to distance/response time. A second house was hit on the chimney. The bolt travelled down the chimney to the all stone fireplace, and exploded the rocks at the base, sending rock shards into the walls throughout the living room. The 3rd house just had a tree nearby get hit.

Pretty scary really for all involved. The local news (and CNN Mexico WTF?) had a field day, and we were just glad everybody was ok.
 
Brett: wow! You never told me that one!

Watchful had great advice on being caught in the open. If it is right over you, the time to move has stopped, and the time to hunker down as low as possible is the rule. Rubber soled shoes help against the most common type of electrocution by lightning: through the ground and up into you. If you have a pack, then put that between you and the ground and hunker down on top of it if out in open.

If you are in a cave, the same rule applies: minimize or eliminate any contact with the cave surfaces. Deep caves are generally safe. But the rock ledges and shallow caves can act as a multiplier and collection point for the energy. They probably won't be able to i.d. you without dental records. You are actually often safer in the open instead of those cases.

Car tires do the same as rubber shoe soles: they protect against traveling ground strikes and the metal of your car conducts electricity down and into the ground if struck from overhead. Make sure you are not in contact with any metal inside the car, though. Convertibles, well, they suck, but are not as bad as being in the open.

Your home is not as safe as you think. In fact, there really is no safe place! However, some places provide better protection than others. In the home, St. Elmo's fire can travel slowly, right through a window and fry and melt your electric sockets and electronic gear, and has killed people who were in the center of their homes away from windows.

If there is a lush forest, then get in there, and stay near the lower stands of trees. Same principles of insulation from the ground apply as mentioned above.

Boats suck mainly if you're in an open, metal, outboard chugger: that boat is a stove waiting to cook you.

Good stuff, let's keep it going!
 
Great topic, very important to know something about. Lighting is somewhere in the top 5 killers in the backcountry. Most survival instruction books I have seen have pretty good advise, but there are some misconceptions and myths surrounding the phenomenon. i.e. rubber tires aren't what makes the car safe, it is the metal shell. Electricity, especially high voltage, has a tendency to travel along surfaces. Think of it this way, that bolt of lighting just jumped across a mile of sky, 6" of rubber is nothin'!! So keep all arms inside the vehicle!
The bottom line is that lightning is very unpredictable.

I have been in and seen more lightning storms than I can count. The most vivid in my memory is while attempting to climb a peak and being chased down by a storm. Me and my buddy practically sprinted down to the treeline, on the way we passed these other guys going UP the slope!!:eek: It was like some war movie with bombs going of everywhere, we hade at least a half dozen strikes within 1000 feet of us. I have been in some other storms, but being above treeline with absolutely NO cover was very scary, even if your chances of getting struck aren't much worse.

There was actually a lighting strike 100' or so from my house just yesterday!!!! I am facinated by it and love to watch the show, probably because it is so powerfull and dangerous.
 
Blazink, you're right about rubber -- it's no guarantee, but it has often helped turn a potential death into an injured, but still alive, person.
 
I don't usually worry too much about lightning, although that necessarily isn't smart at all. I'll move out of the worst danger zones when I see it coming, but that's about it. Like others have said, avoid those open, high areas, or indeed avoid any situation where you stick out as a high point on the surface. Don't go near other lightning magnets, like the tallest tree in the woods or the sole tree in the open field.

But why don't I worry too much? Because, if lightning wants to get you, it in fact will, no matter where the hell you are. :D

Once, I had this rather fun experience with a lightning ball. I was out walking, sheltered from the rain (and the lightning, or so I thought) by a large cliff of rock, slightly overhanging over my head. There was dense woods everywhere, so I figured the chances would have to be pretty bad for me to get zapped by mr. Thor. How wrong I was. As I look ahead to scout the easiest path near that cliff, I see a brilliant white flash. CRACK, ZZZZTT, KABOOM! What the hell was that? As my vision returned, I saw a tree perhaps 300 feet ahead, completely charred and split into two, burning and smoking still. But that wasn't the scary part. As I look at that huge tree split clean into two from the top to the roots, I see this bright glowing, white bluish ball of what looked a lot like flame, at the most two feet, likely much less, in diameter, float up from the ground (yes, the ground), and then hover near the tree for maybe five seconds. That was one of the most powerful "now what the hell is this?" moments in my entire life. This little ball of flame guy rises up a couple of feet, and then starts moving. Right towards me, slowly accelerating, until it's coming at me real damn fast. I turn tail and run like hell back the way I came from. And that bloody ball of light keeps on coming. As it approaches, I can hear it crackling like someone was jumping on some really dry sticks of wood. At that point, I've had enough of it, and jump behind this really large tree for cover. As I do that, I can hear that bastard approaching, and then a loud zap as it apparantely hits something. Then, nothing. I wait for a moment (and I've got to use this chance to use this wonderful saying :D ), wondering if it's safe yet. No shit, there I was, hiding from a ball of lightning behind a tree. When I finally had the balls to come out, I noticed the tree I hid behind had a large ball-shaped burn mark on it at the side where the ball lightning came from, and apparently hit the tree. Damn, was I glad it wasn't me. To this day, I don't know if what I saw was really what it looked like - which is a lightning ball following my ass a great distance, until it decided to slam right into the tree I was hiding behind - or if I was just really damn drunk without knowing it. :confused:
 
Yes, some amazing pics!

Last year, on one of our backpacking trips, a lightning storm came through camp and deposited its current into a tree about 75-feet from the tent. Sounded like a bomb going off, throwing bark and large chunks of wood everywhere. Fortunately, no one was injured, and the tent was only covered in splinters and pieces of bark. The current traveled the full length of the tree, and when it got to the base, it traveled along the ground through root plates for approximately 40 more feet. It essentially dug a trench for that distance measured at 9 - 13" deep. Needless to say, we were impressed.

The bolt of lightning dug out a channel about 2" deep, 16" wide, from top to bottom on this tree (hard to see the depth in the pic).
lighteningstrike1qs6.jpg
 
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