ORLANDO, Fla. – This winter has been active as cold front after cold front has brought several storms packing quite a bit of lightning.
In the first 18 days of 2024, luckily there have been no reports of people struck and killed by lightning. Typically in January, that doesn’t happen often, but with the El Nino winter pattern, there have been a lot of storms producing lightning. We decided to recap last year’s fatalities in hopes everyone stays safe when lightning strikes.
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In 2023, there were 13 lightning deaths in the United States, four of which happened in Florida. Our state leads the country, followed by Texas which had two deaths last year.
Of the four deaths in the state, two were in Central Florida. The others were in Putnam County and Clearwater which aren’t that far away from home.
The first victim in Central Florida was reported in Brevard County last April. The man was in a boat on the water. The second victim, reported in May, was working on a roof when lightning struck. While most lightning strikes occur during the summer months, this goes to show it can happen any time of the year.
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The National Lightning Safety Council has compiled a list called “The Deadly Dozen” which shows the 12 activities that contributed most to the U.S. lightning deaths since 2006. Boating is listed No. 3 with 5% of people on the water when struck and roofing was No. 7 on the list with 4% of victims being construction workers on the roof at the time lightning struck.
There are five ways people can be struck by lightning. The first way that many people think of is a direct strike. Believe it or not, direct strikes are not as common as the other ways people are struck. While it’s not as common to be struck directly, this type of strike is potentially the most deadly as the person becomes part of the main lightning discharge channel. This type of strike usually happens in open areas.
Side flashes and ground currents are a couple of other ways people are struck by lightning.
There’s a reason meteorologists and safety experts say never take shelter from the rain under a tree during a storm. Side flashes occur when lightning strikes a taller object near the person and part of the current jumps from that object to the person taking shelter. Keep in mind, just because someone isn’t right on the base of the tree this type of strike can happen up to a couple feet away.
Ground current is the most common way victims are struck by lightning because it covers a larger area. Think about how lightning travels. When an object like a tree or pole is stuck, much of the energy travels outward along the ground. Anyone outside near a lightning strike, when this happens, can become a victim of ground current. This can happen in garage floors with conductive materials too.
Conduction and streamers are two other ways people can be struck by lightning.
Lightning can travel 10-12 miles from a thunderstorm, which is often farther than the sound of thunder. If you’re outside and you can hear thunder, that means you are close enough to the storm to be in danger of being struck by lightning. That’s why the saying “when thunder roars, go indoors” is so important to know.
Given that lightning can travel long distances through wires or other metal surfaces that provide a path for it to follow, most indoor injuries or casualties are due to conduction. Some outdoor casualties can happen this way too. Whether you’re inside or out, anyone in contact with anything connected to metal wires, surfaces, plumbing, etc., is at risk. That’s why you shouldn’t be using water faucets, showers or anything plugged into an electrical outlet during a storm. The same goes for being near windows or doors.
Streamers aren’t as common as the other types of lightning strikes, but they can happen. According to the National Weather Service, streamers develop as the downward-moving leader approaches the ground. Usually, only one streamer is in contact with the leader as it approaches the ground. All the streamers that develop are discharged when the main channel discharges. A person who becomes part of one of these streamers is then struck even though the lightning channel was not completed between the cloud and the upward streamer.
The main point here is that lightning is the most lethal component of a thunderstorm, striking the U.S. about 25 million times a year. Paying attention to the weather and monitoring fast-approaching storms is imperative while outdoors to get to a safe place to prevent becoming a victim of lightning strikes.
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