Thunder & lightning: what to do when outside

[Ahjno]

Goodmorning y'all!

Last night I woke up by some loud thunder, so I stood up to close my window a bit when I saw some amazing lightning flashes. Sat there for about an hour, just watching the lightning and listening to the rolling thunder - I can tell you it was a great spectacle out there!! Unfortunately no pics

While I was sitting there before my window I ws thinking what I had to do when I was outside at that moment, for example whilst bushcrafting ...
Did a quick search but couldn't find anything on the forum, hence the post

What to do when caught outside during thunder & lightning?

Any chance we could make some sort of list?

- In the hills: go to lower ground
- Don't shelter underneath a solitairy (sp?) tree
- Avoid the edges of forrests
- Keep away from large metal objects
- Make yourself as small as possible and sit on a climbing rope (or rucksack) ...
As if I ever carry a climbing rope ... I carry at most 10m paracord, don't think that's sufficiënt ...

I remember a text which stated when you where caught out in a big open field you had to lie flat on the ground, to prevent becoming some sort of antenna

Just for fun:
There is a story from a guy in the States who was stroke by lightning because he was wearing an eyebrow piercing. Though in Discovery's Myth Busters, IIRC they decided it was a myth.

Does anyone has some more tips??

 

[Spacemonkey]

It seems that pointy things send up streamers of electrical charge (so lightening kind of strikes from the ground up) which then conduct the charge in the clouds and bolts along the streamer. hence if you stand up, you become pointy. The lightening like most things in nature chooses the easiest path, so if you are near a big metal pole etc it will go there. Trees are good as they contain water. The best lightening storm I ever saw was in Oslo, Norway. I was standing in the harbour looking down the fjord watching the storm coming in. It was an incredibly violent summer storm and I could see the discharges striking both sides of the fjord as it moved along. Then it hit me that it was heading my way!!! I **** myself and ran to hide under a bus stop as it crashed down onto all the tall structures around. Very loud, very ozoney (there's a new word!), very scary!

 

[arctic hobo]

It seems that pointy things send up streamers of electrical charge (so lightening kind of strikes from the ground up) which then conduct the charge in the clouds and bolts along the streamer. hence if you stand up, you become pointy. The lightening like most things in nature chooses the easiest path, so if you are near a big metal pole etc it will go there. Trees are good as they contain water. The best lightening storm I ever saw was in Oslo, Norway. I was standing in the harbour looking down the fjord watching the storm coming in. It was an incredibly violent summer storm and I could see the discharges striking both sides of the fjord as it moved along. Then it hit me that it was heading my way!!! I **** myself and ran to hide under a bus stop as it crashed down onto all the tall structures around. Very loud, very ozoney (there's a new word!), very scary!

Just out of interest, how long ago was that?

 

[Spacemonkey]

Umm... summer of 92 I think?? Memory isn't what it used to be...

 

[Ogri the trog]

tell you it was a great spectacle out there!! Unfortunately no pics

Does anyone has some more tips??

Apart from your tips,
Stand aghast at the spectacle and enjoy it!

Ogri the trog

 

[Andy]

sit in your car (maybe with the heater on and some nice hot soup from your flask)

 

[ChrisKavanaugh]

You actually need to reduce your imprint on the ground also. In an open field it is best to squat low, but do not lie down. I read an early account of a cattledrive. First they encountered a Tornado that lifted a few head into the sky. Later they encountered an electrical storm that left longhorns piled up in groups of 12+ . The author reported cowboys frantically striping off spurs, revolvers and horsebits

 

[VIRULENT SALAMANDER]

What to do when caught outside during thunder & lightning?

Any chance we could make some sort of list?

- In the hills: go to lower ground
- Don't shelter underneath a solitairy (sp?) tree
- Avoid the edges of forrests
- Keep away from large metal objects
- Make yourself as small as possible and sit on a climbing rope (or rucksack) ... ..

Sound advice I think, which is now what I'm doing about my hammock(Re:No.2)

 

[C_Claycomb]

There was a very interesting program on Chanel 5 a few weeks ago about surviving being struck by lightening. I (re?)learned several things.

They did an experiment with a steel and a wooden rod of equal height. There the electricity showed no preference for the metal conductor and struck both equally. I suppose that there migth be something in it when looking at trees Vs pylons, but the message was that metal did nothing to attract lightning and it was all about height off the ground.

When in the open, keeping ones feet close together does not make it any less likely that you or something near you will get struck, but you reduce the potential difference between your feet in the event of a near miss ground strike. If your feet are wide it is easier for electricity to flow up one leg and down the other rather than travel through the soil. This is why cows get zapped in bunches, other than all getting together when there is a storm (the warm updraft from their bodies can encourage a strike too), they can't reduce the spacing between their contact with the ground.

It is debatable whether sitting on an insulator is going to do diddly. The demonstration for the program showed what happened with lightening type current and rubber foot wear. It got blasted to bits! If the bolt can jump between cloud and ground, the resistance of a few inches of plastic isn't going to do much.

Just for information, the program said that you stood a greater chance of surviving if you were wet to the skin, had some metal jewlry or similar on, had a fit heart, and had friends about who knew CPR

 

[Goose]

I vaguely remember advice saying to go on all fours with your elbows on the ground and your head tucked underneath you. The idea being if you get struck the electricity is less likely to go through your heart or brain as it will take the line of least resistance. Dont know how well it would work but it seemed to make sense.
I think advice for that situation is pretty diverse and contradictory and will depend on "it happened to my mate and he......." type of research rather than any proper scientific principles. Personally I would try and sit in a vehicle and if that wasnt possible just carry on enjoying the spectacle and take my chances as if it happens it happens!

 

[spamel]

This would have been a great thread for me to catch about a week ago when I got stuck out in the open in Canada. My crewmate and myself were broken down on the prairie again, when we saw large black clouds looming and lightning boolts flying about the place. As we crew a Combat Engineer Tractor, a large aluminium tank with a hydraulic bucket on the front, we debated wether to be on the tank or not, as it had more chance of being struck. We took the radio antennae down, but then decided not to stay on the vehicle. The next 30 minutes were the most exciting and terrifying moments of my life as bolts struck 20 to 30 metres away from us. The bang and flash were instantaneous, and I imagine what the recieving end of an artillery barrage is like.

After a while, we decided to take our chances with the tank, and got under cover by closing our hatches as tornado force winds hit us! Apparently, the bolt would have gone straight to earth through the tank and we would have been safe inside.

Spamel

 

[BorderReiver]

I vaguely remember advice saying to go on all fours with your elbows on the ground and your head tucked underneath you.

That's so you can kiss your a&se goodbye

I'll get me coat.

 

[Graham_S]

what to do in a thunder and lightning storm?

easy, dance naked!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

 

[Goose]

That's so you can kiss your a&se goodbye

I'll get me coat.

Possibly!

 

[FeralSheryl]

Thunderstorms - fantastic. Just feeeeel that energy!
Ever noticed you can often still hear the birds singing?

Biggest and best ones I've ever experienced were in Africa when I was a kid at the start of the rainy season. Sounded like the Earth itself was cracking!
More please

 

[arctic hobo]

Scariest one I've been in is in Nepal, with a blizzard/hailstorm with lightning, the works. I never knew that you could get lightning with snowstorms
Scary because the snow takes your breath away, and the clouds are so low it's all around you... argh

 

[Spacemonkey]

Of course we had a great one in London the other night. The new Arsenal stadium is being built next door and it has 3 huge cranes which are 5 mins walk from my gaff. One got struck while I watched it. Awesome! A local church bought it as did Canary Wharf, which put the lights out for a while. Alexandra Palace got it as usual so it appeared. I was just waiting for our gaff to get it as we are 16 floors up...

 

[BorderReiver]

Biggest and best ones I've ever experienced were in Africa when I was a kid at the start of the rainy season. Sounded like the Earth itself was cracking!
More please

Me too,in the south.I seem to remember they occurred at about 4pm most days.
Storms were quite often followed by swarms of flying ants,a great treat for the locals.I was too young to fancy a taste.

 

[alick]

On a trip to the Pyrenees some time back some old college mates were camping out at 10,000 feet so as to get across some icefields before dawn next morning. We had a terrific electrical storm that night and when I picked them up in the van next day was told they'd had a lightning strike within a few feet (no doubt 20 yards) of their tent.

Strangely they didn't get any sort of electric shock but one chap was looking out of the tent at the time and was blinded by the strike for several minutes. He was still visibly shell shocked when I met them 24 hours on.

If caught out on a hillside, apart from staying away from trees, keeping away from cave entrances and rock overhangs (lightning tends to jump the gap), squat or sit with knees tucked up and feet together, I recall the advice to stay out of gullies as lightning strikes tend to discharge down them following the damper ground.

Cheers

 

[havingagiraffe]

I once met a guy who'd been electrocuted while operating a lorry mounted Hiab crane near a power line. Doctors told him that he only survived because most of the current flowed outside his body as he was soaking with sweat and the water offered an easy path to earth. He still had to have skin grafts to repair the holes burned in his feet though

I always thought that you'd be safe in a car as the rubber tyres insulate it from earth. When this guy got zapped all eight of his truck's tyres blew out instantly.

Interestingingly, he didn't touch the power lines with the crane, the juice managed to jump a few feet through thin air to the crane's jib.

Judging from all of the above posts, the best thing to do is enjoy the spectacle 'till the bolts get really close, then close your eyes and pray like you've never prayed before.....