Lightning while Camping, Part I
Bob Amick (amick@SPOT.COLORADO.EDU)
Tue, 10 Aug 1999 00:37:40 -0500
Jack Wright and Mike Bowman's website on lightning safety is excellent
and well documented. I would reiterate some points and add a few ideas:
The American Red Cross, NOAA/National Weather Service, and FEMA have
produced a very good 12 page color brochure entitled "Thunderstorms
and Lightning... the under-rated killers" with an impressive color
photo of a large storm cell on the front page. These are available
from any of these organizations at no cost, and come in shrink-wrapped
packets of 10; It is recommended highly for use by
all Scouting units, especially prior to Summer Camp or other outings.
The Public Broadcast System's NOVA program produced an excellent
one hour program on Lightning and Safety about a year ago, and
I would highly recommend obtaining a copy of this tape to see
very detailed documentation on actual lightning incidents
and how/why they caused serious injuries and death, and to
help understand how to avoid such situations. We use this
video along with the NOAA documents for our summer camp
staff and participants, since we also live in a
lightning-prone zone along the Front Range of the Colorado Rocky
Mountains.
1. The safest place to be in a lightning storm is inside a substantial
building, preferably in a basement, away from electrical, phone
or plumbing appliances. Obviously it's not a good idea to be using
appliances, phones or showering during an electrical storm. Campers
should be reminded not to be using showers at summer camp when storms
are imminent.
2. The next safest place is inside a car with a metal roof ("ragtops"
won't be much help), since the car
acts as a "faraday cage" and will conduct a discharge around
the occupants to ground through its metal body. Contrary
to popular opinion, the tires do not provide any safety
since the charge far exceeds the ability of the tires to
"insulate" the vehicle from the ground.
3. The old adage that lightning "never strikes the same place
twice," is patently false, since lightning often strikes points of
high conductivity, and many split, broken and burned trees on
exposed points or in open meadows often attest to that fact. So
if you are in those areas when a storm threatens, it is best
to move quickly away to less exposed territory. Some short-term
warning signs (which may or may not occur prior to a strike) are:
"St Elmo's fire" or static discharges on metal items such as glasses, belt
buckles, metal pack frames, or hair standing straight out;
Such signs indicate a highly charged electrical field due to a storm, but
may or may not predict that a strike will occur nearby; however any such
electrical phenomena can be considered a a significant indicator
of a potential strike, so taking immediate precautions such as
the "lightning safe position" or moving quickly to
a shelter if available, is essential. Remember, when training folks about
lightning precautions, you must "walk the talk" and actually demonstrate
the techniques and have the Scouts practice doing them. In an emergency
practiced techniques are often recalled and used instinctively.
4. As Jack notes, lightning bolts can travel
up to ten miles from a large cell, to an area where
the sun is shining, and there is no rain or hint of
a threatening storm, hence the "bolt out of the blue"
concept is quite possible and often deadly. A number of
folks have been killed and seriously injured by this
phenomenon, especially on golf courses and athletic fields.
Prevention is key, as Jack mentions, so listen to NOAA weather
radio for storm warnings (low cost battery-operated
weather radio receivers are available from electronics
stores such as Radio Shack), obtain lightning energy detectors
that warn of electrical discharges before they become
an immediate threat, and check out NWS forecasts for
watches and warnings in the area before the activity
is conducted, and be ready to move quickly if there
is any sign of such activity. The National Weather
Service maintains an excellent internet page called
IWIN on worldwide weather forecasts, watches, warnings,
satellite weather imaging, radar storm imaging, etc. See URL:
http://iwin.nws.noaa.gov/iwin/iwdspg1.html
*(Part II appears in the next posting due to length limits of list-serve)
Bob Amick, EMT-B, Advisor, Venturing Crew/SSS 72, Boulder, CO
Longs Peak Council Venturing/Exploring Training, Camping Committees
American Red Cross Community Disaster Education Instructor
