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After Lightning Strike Kills CO Hiker, A Reminder About Lightning Safety

Ian Boggs
/
Creative Commons

As CNN reported this week, a 31-year-old woman was struck and killed by lightning while hiking on Mount Yale this week.

Here is a reminder of NOAA's guidelines for lightning safety.

If you're indoors:

A safe shelter is a building with electricity and/or plumbing or a metal-topped vehicle with windows closed. Picnic shelters, dugouts, small buildings without plumbing or electricity are not safe. Below are some key safety tips for you, your pets and your home. There are three main ways lightning enters structures: a direct strike, through wires or pipes that extend outside the structure, and through the ground. Once in a structure, lightning can travel through the electrical, phone, plumbing, and radio/television reception systems. Lightning can also travel through any metal wires or bars in concrete walls or flooring.

  •     Stay off corded phones. You can use cellular or cordless phones.
  •     Don't touch electrical equipment such as computers, TVs, or cords. You can remote controls safety.
  •     Avoid plumbing. Do not wash your hands, take a shower or wash dishes.
  •     Stay away from windows and doors that might have small leaks around the sides to let in lightning, and stay off porches.
  •     Do not lie on concrete floors or lean againt concrete walls.
  •     Protect your pets: Dog houses are not safe shelters. Dogs that are chained to trees or on metal runners are particularly vulnerable to lightning strikes.
  •     Protect your property: Lightning generates electric surges that can damage electronic equipment some distance from the actual strike. Typical surge protectors will not protect equipment from a lightning strike. The American Meteorological Society has tips for protecting your electronics from lightning. Do not unplug equipment during a thunderstorm as there is a risk you could be struck.

If you'reoutdoors:

When a Safe Building or Vehicle is Nearby

There is little you can do to substantially reduce your risk if you are outside in a thunderstorm. The only completely safe action is to get inside a safe building or vehicle.

When a Safe Location is not Nearby
If you absolutely cannot get to safety, you can slightly lessen the threat of being struck with the following tips. But don't kid yourself--you are NOT safe outside. Know the weather patterns of the area you plan to visit. For example, in mountainous areas, thunderstorms typically develop in the early afternoon, so plan to hike early in the day and be down the mountain by noon. Listen to the weather forecast for the outdoor area you plan to visit. The forecast may be very different from the one near your home. If there is a high chance of thunderstorms, stay inside.

  •     Avoid open fields, the top of a hill or a ridge top.
  •     Stay away from tall, isolated trees or other tall objects. If you are in a forest, stay near a lower stand of trees.
  •     If you are in a group, spread out to avoid the current traveling between group members.
  •     If you are camping in an open area, set up camp in a valley, ravine or other low area. Remember, a tent offers NO protection from lighting.
  •     Stay away from water, wet items, such as ropes, and metal objects, such as fences and poles. Water and metal do not attract lightning but they are excellent conductors of electricity. The current from a lightning flash will easily travel for long distances.