Lightning safety
Outdoor activities when lightning is possible can be dangerous if you don't follow some basic safety tips. Read on and avoid a shocking addition to your life story.
It's national severe weather awareness time!
The majority of us are enjoying the arrival of spring with its warmer temperatures, returning birds, budding plants and going outside without six layers of clothing. However, with spring comes thunderstorms and lightning. Lightning is like many natural events, beautiful at a distance, potentially deadly up close.
The gov'mint declared March 7th through the 11th as National Severe Weather Awareness Week; although, for some reason, I have seen similar alerts popping up. Go figure. Anyway, a few years back, a community group in NJ asked me to put on a lightning safety training program. As part of that program, I created a brochure you can download here.
Now, don't blow this topic off thinking you already know all there is to know about lightning safety because you may not. When I researched lightning safety for the program, I discovered new bits of information that can be life-saving.
What part of our planet gets the most lightning strikes?
There is an excellent NASA page you can read about this topic and get some benefit from your tax dollars! If you prefer to see the image and skip the text, here it is for your viewing pleasure.
USA, USA!
For those interested in US data by itself, I offer this image created by Vaisala using NASA and other data. It may come as no surprise that Florida and the Gulf Coast play host to the most lightning each year. Wow, I think that last statement qualifies as slam rhyming!!
Better safe than sorry
Unless you feel as lucky as Roy Sullivan, the Guinness World Record holder for surviving seven, count 'em seven, lightning strikes, follow the tips presented in this article.