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Lightning tips
Salams all. Here is part of an article that was published in our local paper. Depending on where you live, lightning may or may not be a major hazard. The top five states for lightning fatalities are Florida, Texas, Colorado, Ohio, and North Carolina. Happy reading...
ACTIVE OUTDOORS
When outdoors this summer remember the four A's of thunderstorm safety
1. Anticipate - Check out weather forecasts as often as possible. Be aware of shelter location and how long it takes to get to it. This is especially important when hiking and crossing ridges, boulder fields or summiting a mountain. If in a group, assign one person as the weather watcher
2. Assess - Watch the sky. Clouds will offer clues long before you hear thunder and see lightning. Thunderstorms build from small and fluffy cumulus clouds at the beginning to clouds resembling cauliflower heads then continue to expand. Unless there is an obstruction, you can see lightning from 15 miles away and hear thunder from six to 10 miles away. If you can hear thunder and see the lightning flash, using the flash/bang method you can detect how far away the storm is.
3. Act - Once you detect a thunderstorm, don't wait until it rains to seek shelter. Many thunderstorms in Colorado are dry ones. Search for the best possible shelter in the time you have to access it. If caught in the open, ditch anything metal. Seek clumps of shrubs or trees of uniform height, ditches, trenches or the lowest ground away from trees, fences and poles. If with others, spread out at least 20 feet from each other and with feet together crouch on the ba;; of your feet and put your hands over your head.
4. Aid - Before attempting to help a victim, make sure you're not putting yourself in danger. The victim does not carry a charge so treatment, if necessary, should start immediately. Check for an open airway and to see if victim is breathing and check circulation by placing your fingers on their neck. Be patient, checking 20 to 30 seconds for signs of either. If no breathing or pulse, start CPR. If danger still looms, look to treat the person in a less exposed area. In most lightning strikes, fractures or major bleeding are unlikely.
10 LIGHTNING MYTHS
1. Myth: Lightning never strikes twice.
Fact: The Empire State Building is struck 22 to 25 times per year.
2. Myth: Rubber soles of shoes and rubber tires protect you from lightning.
Fact: They provide no protection. A steel frame of a vehicle can protect you if you're not touching any metal, meaning you are usually safer there than outside with no protection.
3. Myth: You should get off the water when boating, canoeing or sailing.
Fact: Tall trees and rocky outcrops along shore and on nearby land may be a more dangerous place. Get off the water if you can find a safe shelter.
4. Myth: A cave is a safe place in a thunderstorm.
Fact: If it is shallow cave, or an old mine with metallics nearby, it can be a deadly location during lightning.
5. Myth: If it is not raining, there is no danger of lightning.
Fact: Especially in western states, lightning often strikes outside of heavy rain and as far as 10 miles.
6. Myth: People struck by lightning carry an electrical charge and should not be helped.
Fact: Lightning victims carry no electrical charge and require immediate attention.
7. Myth: Heat lightning occurs only on hot summer days and poses no threat.
Fact: Heat lightning is a term that describes lightning from a thunderstorm too far away for thunder to be heard and is dangerous
8. Myth: Benjamin Franklin discovered electricity when his kite was struck by it.
Fact: In his 1752 experiment, the kite wasn't actually struck. Static electricity in the air stood fibers on the kite cord on end and when Ben touched a metal key to the end of the cord, he discovered lightning's electricial charge.
9. Myth: Lightning usually directly strikes victims.
Fact: Lightning more often enters the victim through the ground, which is why you want to crouch low and not lie on the ground.
10. Myth: When lighting hits the ground nearby, it is grounded and you are safe.
Fact: When lightning hits the ground, it spreads out along the surface. People, being bags of electrolytes, are better transmitters of electrical current than most ground is, and many are injured by ground current as the lightning energy surges up one leg that is closer to the strike and down the one further away.
Link to website:
www.coloradoan.com SearchID=73207576423293
ACTIVE OUTDOORS
When outdoors this summer remember the four A's of thunderstorm safety
1. Anticipate - Check out weather forecasts as often as possible. Be aware of shelter location and how long it takes to get to it. This is especially important when hiking and crossing ridges, boulder fields or summiting a mountain. If in a group, assign one person as the weather watcher
2. Assess - Watch the sky. Clouds will offer clues long before you hear thunder and see lightning. Thunderstorms build from small and fluffy cumulus clouds at the beginning to clouds resembling cauliflower heads then continue to expand. Unless there is an obstruction, you can see lightning from 15 miles away and hear thunder from six to 10 miles away. If you can hear thunder and see the lightning flash, using the flash/bang method you can detect how far away the storm is.
3. Act - Once you detect a thunderstorm, don't wait until it rains to seek shelter. Many thunderstorms in Colorado are dry ones. Search for the best possible shelter in the time you have to access it. If caught in the open, ditch anything metal. Seek clumps of shrubs or trees of uniform height, ditches, trenches or the lowest ground away from trees, fences and poles. If with others, spread out at least 20 feet from each other and with feet together crouch on the ba;; of your feet and put your hands over your head.
4. Aid - Before attempting to help a victim, make sure you're not putting yourself in danger. The victim does not carry a charge so treatment, if necessary, should start immediately. Check for an open airway and to see if victim is breathing and check circulation by placing your fingers on their neck. Be patient, checking 20 to 30 seconds for signs of either. If no breathing or pulse, start CPR. If danger still looms, look to treat the person in a less exposed area. In most lightning strikes, fractures or major bleeding are unlikely.
10 LIGHTNING MYTHS
1. Myth: Lightning never strikes twice.
Fact: The Empire State Building is struck 22 to 25 times per year.
2. Myth: Rubber soles of shoes and rubber tires protect you from lightning.
Fact: They provide no protection. A steel frame of a vehicle can protect you if you're not touching any metal, meaning you are usually safer there than outside with no protection.
3. Myth: You should get off the water when boating, canoeing or sailing.
Fact: Tall trees and rocky outcrops along shore and on nearby land may be a more dangerous place. Get off the water if you can find a safe shelter.
4. Myth: A cave is a safe place in a thunderstorm.
Fact: If it is shallow cave, or an old mine with metallics nearby, it can be a deadly location during lightning.
5. Myth: If it is not raining, there is no danger of lightning.
Fact: Especially in western states, lightning often strikes outside of heavy rain and as far as 10 miles.
6. Myth: People struck by lightning carry an electrical charge and should not be helped.
Fact: Lightning victims carry no electrical charge and require immediate attention.
7. Myth: Heat lightning occurs only on hot summer days and poses no threat.
Fact: Heat lightning is a term that describes lightning from a thunderstorm too far away for thunder to be heard and is dangerous
8. Myth: Benjamin Franklin discovered electricity when his kite was struck by it.
Fact: In his 1752 experiment, the kite wasn't actually struck. Static electricity in the air stood fibers on the kite cord on end and when Ben touched a metal key to the end of the cord, he discovered lightning's electricial charge.
9. Myth: Lightning usually directly strikes victims.
Fact: Lightning more often enters the victim through the ground, which is why you want to crouch low and not lie on the ground.
10. Myth: When lighting hits the ground nearby, it is grounded and you are safe.
Fact: When lightning hits the ground, it spreads out along the surface. People, being bags of electrolytes, are better transmitters of electrical current than most ground is, and many are injured by ground current as the lightning energy surges up one leg that is closer to the strike and down the one further away.
Link to website:
www.coloradoan.com SearchID=73207576423293
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