ErnieW
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Post by ErnieW on Jun 30, 2024 7:26:22 GMT -8
You can avoid the peaks and passes in the afternoons, but beyond that, it's not unlikely that you'll get surprised once in a while. When you do...keep your feet together. In my story above I had my feet together touching. I got a good zap. I think about what may have happened as the charge spread across the ground if it flowed up one leg and down the other. Current is what damages. So I agree, if you are standing still feet together. P.S. I also put my pack and poles down about 10 feet away. More comfortable for standing and looking back maybe good not to have my cell fried along with me if directly hit. Maybe still be able to call for help.
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ErnieW
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Post by ErnieW on Jun 30, 2024 7:44:24 GMT -8
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ErnieW
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Post by ErnieW on Jun 30, 2024 7:51:02 GMT -8
I got a bit of a chuckle from the above analysis PDF in their conclusion. Also surprised that one of my sports, disc golf, made the leisure list. Based on the statistics for gender, the vast majority of lightning victims are male. Possible explanations for this finding are that males are unaware of all the dangers associated with lightning, are more likely to be in vulnerable situations, are unwilling to be inconvenienced by the threat of lightning, are in situations that make it difficult to get to a safe place in a timely manner, don't react quickly to the lightning threat, or any combination of these explanations. In short, because of their behavior, males are at a higher risk of being struck and, consequently, are struck and killed by lightning more often than females.
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rebeccad
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Post by rebeccad on Jun 30, 2024 8:39:33 GMT -8
But the cavers seem to agree that once you are into a cave enough lightning isn't a problem. I wondered about that. No one has ever specifically said how large or small a cave is a risk, but I was pretty sure if you go deep inside you'll be fine. It's the little talus caves and overhangs that are most hazardous.
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BigLoad
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Post by BigLoad on Jun 30, 2024 15:29:55 GMT -8
In NJ, the most popular place to be struck by lightning is an ocean beach. There was a lightning death last week on the same beach where lightning killed somebody last year.
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ErnieW
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Post by ErnieW on Jun 30, 2024 17:30:45 GMT -8
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swiftdream
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Post by swiftdream on Jun 30, 2024 18:03:07 GMT -8
In NJ, the most popular place to be struck by lightning is an ocean beach. There was a lightning death last week on the same beach where lightning killed somebody last year. Far as I can see about 17 people a year are killed by lightning in the United States so having one a year in your vicinity is saying something and is a tragedy. Lightning strikes anywhere it wants, peaks, slopes and down in the bottom of meadow drainages with zero trees while the peaks and tree lines are nearby. There is no safe place outside during an electrical storm.
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ErnieW
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Post by ErnieW on Jun 30, 2024 18:16:24 GMT -8
There is no safe place outside during an electrical storm. That is part of this thread for me: Are there safer places if caught outside? I do try to remember that it is actually unlikely you will be hit and if you are %90 survive. The thing about the hammock fatality is still bothering me a bit though.
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BigLoad
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Post by BigLoad on Jun 30, 2024 18:51:20 GMT -8
In NJ, the most popular place to be struck by lightning is an ocean beach. There was a lightning death last week on the same beach where lightning killed somebody last year. Far as I can see about 17 people a year are killed by lightning in the United States so having one a year in your vicinity is saying something and is a tragedy. Lightning strikes anywhere it wants, peaks, slopes and down in the bottom of meadow drainages with zero trees while the peaks and tree lines are nearby. There is no safe place outside during an electrical storm.
Getting to the NJ ocean beaches from most places takes a big chunk of time and usually money, so people hesitate to bail out in a timely fashion. It doesn't help that many visitors are urbanites from NYC or Philadelphia less personally acquainted with the danger than suburban and rural folks who see lightning damage to trees and experience periodic lightning-caused power outages.
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Travis
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Post by Travis on Jun 30, 2024 20:12:46 GMT -8
As some have noted, there is no safe place outside during a thunderstorm. The Weather Service has been saying that for decades. For safety, we’re told, resort to metal-topped vehicles or to buildings. But all considered, the number of people killed by lightning is only a small fraction of those killed in vehicles or buildings. Falls at home by themselves account for between 40 and 50 thousand deaths annually. Life is not safe. If it were, we'd probably eat ourselves to death with ultra-processed foods. Or we'd be bored to death because lightning outdoors scared us away from exercise and natural surroundings. There is no clear dichotomy between safety and danger. It’s all a gray area. We can work toward safety, but inevitably we will take risks or we will curl up and die. Lightning, like nature in general, will never conform to our rules. Even the hidden water table and unknown soil types can affect where lightning strikes or how well the current is conducted. I couldn't count how many lightning storms I've had to "sit out" or try to sleep through. We follow the imperfect guidelines as best we can for the particular conditions we find ourselves in. Sometimes it's a thrill. Sometimes it's like being in a prolonged war zone. And oftentimes I see that lightning doesn't do what it is supposed to do. How naughty is that? Here is a map I've found kind of interesting. ![](https://i.ibb.co/PC3xQbk/lightning.jpg)
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Travis
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Post by Travis on Jun 30, 2024 20:28:13 GMT -8
On the map above, you can note the stark difference between lightning density on the East versus West coasts. It kind of suggests a person may be 20 times more likely to be struck along the New Jersey coast than on the California coast.
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Lightning
Jul 2, 2024 9:20:33 GMT -8
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Post by marmotstew on Jul 2, 2024 9:20:33 GMT -8
I remember it being: don’t make eye contact, talk in a firm voice and make yourself as tall as possible.
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Post by cweston on Jul 2, 2024 9:38:57 GMT -8
Fascinating map, Travis. Interesting to me that no part of the Rocky Mountains has as high a density as NE Kansas where I live. (Of course, in NE Kansas where I live, I'm usually safely in my house or car during storms, so I guess I have the luxury of not worrying as much about it as when I'm hiking in the high country.)
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BigLoad
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Post by BigLoad on Jul 2, 2024 9:43:44 GMT -8
I remember it being: don’t make eye contact, talk in a firm voice and make yourself as tall as possible. I don't think that will fool Zeus.
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swiftdream
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Post by swiftdream on Jul 2, 2024 10:00:24 GMT -8
I remember it being: don’t make eye contact, talk in a firm voice and make yourself as tall as possible. Quite right Stewy, quite right. The map is interesting. Shows where I live in southern Arizona has more lightning activity than the rest of the Rockies. I’ve had a blue/white bolt hit 15’ in front of me in northern Arizona while backpacking and here in southern Arizona I was enjoying a lightning storm while under my porch and saw a bolt hit a roof three houses away on the curving circle lane and explode into a vicious house fire instantly. Looks like Florida is top of the heap with east Texas and Oklahoma for electrical craziness.
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