Lightning facts
- Each year, 67 people are killed by lightning in the United
States on average. This is higher than tornadoes and hurricanes
and second only to flash-flooding deaths.
- It is estimated that more than 1,000 people are injured by
lightning strikes in the United States each year.
- Most lightning fatalities and injuries occur outdoors at
recreation events (baseball games, soccer games, lakes and on
golf courses) and under or near trees.
- No place outdoors is safe when a thunderstorm is near!
- The best place to take shelter from lightning is indoors in
a substantial building. The second-best place is in a
hard-topped vehicle, with the windows up. It is the metal shell
of the automobile that protects you, NOT the rubber tires.
- In a year in the U.S., the odds of an individual being a
lightning casualty are about 280,000-to-1!! The odds of winning
the lottery are a hundred times greater!
- Lightning results in about $5 billion of economic impact in
the U.S. each year and is one of the leading causes of forest
fires.
- Lightning is most likely to happen in the spring and summer
months, in the late afternoon or evening.
- Ninety-six people have been killed by lightning in Illinois
in the past 40 years.
- In 2001, Illinois ranked second among the 50 states
for lightning fatalities.
Outdoors
While no one can completely eliminate the risk of being struck by
lighting, you can greatly reduce your risk of becoming a lightning
casualty by following some basic rules.
If thunderstorms are in the forecast,
consider postponing outdoor activities. At the very least, have
a portable NOAA weather radio that will alert you to changes in
the weather.
Watch the sky! Make sure you or someone in a group of
people monitors the weather conditions. This is especially
important if you need time to get to a safe place. The static on
an AM radio frequency can also alert you to approaching
thunderstorms.
Coaches and officials need a safety plan! Outdoor
sporting events are very susceptible to lightning strikes
because the games are played in open areas. If you or your
children are involved in outdoor recreational activities, verify
that coaches, umpires, referees and camp counselors have
guidelines for postponing games before thunderstorms
approach. The safety of the participants and the spectators must
be the No. 1 priority!
Use the 30-30 rule! When you see lightning -- start
counting. If you cannot count to 30 before you hear the thunder,
then get indoors immediately! Once indoors, stay there for 30
minutes after hearing the last rumble of thunder before resuming
outdoor activities. Remember: This is a guideline and is
not as useful if the thunderstorm is actually forming overhead.
The first strike of lightning may occur very near you. You won't
have the ability to "hear it coming." So remember to keep an
"eye on the sky" if clouds begin to build and darken!
Get away from water! Stop activities in or near water,
such as swimming, boating, fishing and camping. Seek a
substantial shelter.
Lightning safety tips -- outdoors:
- The best shelter from lightning is a substantial building,
indoors.
- Avoid carports, porches, garages, sheds, tents, baseball
dugouts or under bleachers.
- If no substantial shelter is available, then seek refuge in
a hard-topped vehicle, with the windows up.
- Stay away from trees, electrical poles or other tall
objects.
- If your hair stands on end or you experience a tingling
sensation, lightning may strike soon!
- Do not lie flat on the ground!
Crouch down on the balls
of your feet to create the lowest profile.
Lightning safety on the job
People who work outdoors in open
spaces, on or near tall objects, with explosives, or with metal have
a large exposure to lightning risks. Workers in these occupations
are among those with the most risk:
- Farming and field labor
- Power-utility field repair
- Construction and building maintenance
- Heavy equipment operation
- Plumbing and pipefitting
- Explosives handling or storage
- Logging
Some basic rules:
- Don't start anything that can't be stopped quickly.
Pay attention to the daily forecast so you know what to
expect. Be alert for early signs of thunderstorms, such as
increasing winds, dark clouds, rain or distant rumbles of
thunder.
- Know your company's safety guidelines.
Businesses with high-risk functions, such as explosives
handling or utility repair during severe weather, should have a
formal lightning warning policy that meets these two
requirements:
- Lightning danger warnings that can be issued in time for
everyone to get to a safe location.
- Access to a safe place.
- Assess your lightning risk and take action.
When you see lightning, use the 30-30 rule for lightning
safety. Stop what you are doing immediately and take shelter in
a substantial building or in a hard-topped vehicle.
- Objects and equipment to avoid:
- Anything tall or high, including roofs, scaffolding,
ladders, utility poles or trees.
- Large equipment such as bulldozers, cranes, backhoes and
tractors.
- Materials or surfaces that conduct electricity, like any
metal tools or equipment, utility
- lines, water, water pipes, and plumbing.
- Leave areas with explosives or munitions.
- If a co-worker is struck by lightning --
Lightning victims are safe to handle -- they do not
carry any electrical charge. Call 9-1-1 immediately! If
the victim's heart is stopped or the person has stopped
breathing, administer CPR immediately, if properly trained.
Indoors
A house or other substantial building offers the best protection
from lightning. Open shelters, carports, garages and sheds are
designed to protect people and property from rain and sun -- NOT
lightning.
There are three main ways lightning enters a building:
- A direct strike.
- Through wires or pipes that extend outside the building.
- Through the ground.
Once in a structure, the current from a lightning strike can
travel through electrical lines, plumbing, phone lines, and radio or
TV reception systems. Lightning can also travel through any metal
wiring or bars in concrete walls or flooring.
- Avoid contact with corded phones.
Phone use is the leading cause of indoor lightning injuries in
the United States. Cordless phones are safe, as long as lightning
does not strike while you are removing the phone from the charging
cradle. Cell phones are the safest method of communication.
Stay away from windows and exterior doors.
Windows and doors can provide a path for a direct strike to enter
a home.
Stay off porches and decks.
Even if a porch or deck is covered, it does not offer any
protection from lightning strikes.
Avoid contact with electrical equipment or cords.
Direct strikes and power surges due to lightning causes
significant damage to personal property each year. If you plan to
unplug any electronic equipment, do so well before the storm
arrives. Do not forget to disconnect televisions and radios from
outdoor antennas.
Stay away from plumbing and plumbing appliances.
Avoid contact with pipes during a thunderstorm. Do not take a
shower or bath. Avoid appliances such as dishwashers, washing
machines and electric hot water heaters, since they use both water
and electricity.
Be alert for direct lightning strikes.
If your home or a neighbor's home is directly struck by
lightning, call the fire department immediately! Have the electrical
wiring in your home inspected by a qualified electrical contractor
as soon as possible.
[to top of second column in this article] |
 Lightning strike injuries
If a person is struck by lightning, immediate medical attention
may be the difference between life and death. With proper medical
treatment, most victims can survive a lightning strike. However, the
long-term effects on their lives and the lives of their family
members can be devastating.
- Victims do not carry any electrical charge.
It is important that lightning-strike victims receive immediate
medical attention --call 9-1-1! They are safe to handle and cannot
injure anyone providing medical attention.
Lightning causes cardiac arrest in most fatalities. The surge of electricity through a person's body results in
cardiac arrest being the immediate cause of death in most lightning
fatalities. Check to see if a lightning victim has a pulse and is
breathing. If not, administer CPR immediately and get the victim
advanced lifesaving medical attention.
Only a few victims suffer burns. Physically, only a few lightning-strike victims actually suffer
burns, and these are usually minor. Most lightning burns occur in
the extremities, where the current either enters or exits the body.
Some of the long-term side effects reported by lighting -strike
survivors are:
- Memory loss
- Personality changes
- Difficulty carrying on more than one task at a time
- Fatigue
- Irreparable nerve damage
- Chronic pain or headaches
- Difficulty sleeping
- Dizziness
Note: Some symptoms may not appear until several months after the
lightning strike!
The main support group for lightning strike survivors is
Lightning Strike and Electric
Shock Survivors International.
The science of lightning
By definition, all thunderstorms contain lightning. Lightning can
strike the ground or ground-based objects, within the thunderstorm
cloud, from one thunderstorm to another, or into the atmosphere.
Thunderstorms are most likely to develop on warm spring or summer
days, but they can occur anytime of the year.
The development of a thunderstorm
Pockets of air rise into the atmosphere, either forced by a front
or due to heating of the earth on a sunny day. When this air reaches
a certain level in the atmosphere, cumulus clouds start to form.
Continued heating of the moist air can cause these clouds to grow
vertically upward in the atmosphere, forming "towering cumulus"
clouds. These clouds may be the first indication of a developing
thunderstorm or cumulonimbus cloud.
How lightning forms
Lightning is produced because of the mixture and collisions of
ice crystals high in the thunderstorm with raindrops and hailstones
in the lower parts of the storm. The lighter ice crystals become
positively charged and are carried into the highest parts of the
cloud. Heavier hail and rain gathers a negative charge and falls
toward the lower part of the cloud.
The earth's surface normally has a slight negative charge.
However, as the negative charges build up in the lower part of the
cloud, the ground beneath it and surrounding locations become
positively charged. Initially the air acts as an insulator between
these differing charges. However, when the electrical potential
between the two charges becomes too great, there is a discharge of
electricity known as lightning.
Lightning and thunder
Lightning is the giant spark of electricity that occurs within
the atmosphere. As it passes through the air, the bolt of lightning,
1 inch in diameter or less, rapidly heats the air to a temperature
of 50,000 degrees F, which is hotter than the surface of the sun!
The air expands rapidly due to the heating, then quickly contracts
as it cools back to its normal temperature. This creates a shock
wave that we hear as thunder.
Heat lightning
Heat lightning is simply the lightning from a distant
thunderstorm that is too far away for the resultant thunder to be
heard. In most cases, the light you observe is being reflected off
clouds, near the horizon, tens of miles away. Keep an eye on the
storm, though, since it may be headed in your direction.
Little-known lightning facts
- Many cloud-to-ground lighting flashes have multiple, or "forked,"
attachment points to earth. Recent studies indicated that 50 percent
to 70 percent of cloud-to-ground lightning strikes are forked.
- Lightning can spread out nearly 60 feet after striking the earth,
depending on soil characteristics.
- Lightning can strike the same place twice!
- An increase in lightning activity or a rapid change in lightning
polarity can be a precursor to a severe thunderstorm or tornado.
Sources of lightning and weather safety information
For additional information on lightning and other severe weather
hazards, contact the following:
NOAA Weather Radio
Listen to NOAA Weather Radio for the latest weather forecasts.
The National Weather Service broadcasts weather information,
including watches, warnings and advisories, 24 hours a day. Weather
radio transmitters have a range of about 40 miles. Weather radio
transmitters that cover Illinois are shown below. A map depicting
the coverage of each transmitter is available at
www.crh.noaa.gov/ilx/nwr/nwrexpand.htm.
|
City |
Station |
Frequency |
| Bloomington |
KZZ-65 |
162.525 MHz |
| Cape Girardeau, Mo. |
KXI-93 |
162.550 MHz |
| Champaign |
WXJ-76 |
162.550 MHz |
| Chester |
KXI-42 |
162.450 MHz |
| Chicago |
KWO-39 |
162.550 MHz |
| Crescent City |
KXI-86 |
162.500 MHz |
| Crystal Lake |
KXI-41 |
162.500 MHz |
| DeKalb |
WNG-536 |
162.550 MHz |
| Dixon |
KZZ-55 |
162.525 MHz |
| Dubuque, Iowa |
WXL-64 |
162.400 MHz |
| Edwardsport, Ind. |
WWG-82 |
162.425 MHz |
| Evansville, Ind. |
KIG-76 |
162.550 MHz |
| Freeport |
KZZ-56 |
162.450 MHz |
| Galesburg |
KZZ-66 |
162.400 MHz |
| Hannibal, Mo. |
WXK-82 |
162.475 MHz |
| Hillsboro |
KXI-79 |
162.425 MHz |
| Jacksonville |
WXM-90 |
162.525 MHz |
| Jerseyville |
KXI-70 |
162.450 MHz |
| Kankakee |
KZZ-58 |
162.525 MHz |
| Lockport |
KZZ-81 |
162.425 MHz |
| Macomb |
WXJ-92 |
162.500 MHz |
| Maquoketa, Iowa |
KZZ-83 |
162.500 MHz |
| Marion |
WXM-49 |
162.425 MHz |
| Mayfield, Ky. |
KIH-46 |
162.475 MHz |
| McLeansboro |
KXI-52 |
162.400 MHz |
| Medill, Mo. |
WXL-99 |
162.450 MHz |
| Newton |
KXI-48 |
162.450 MHz |
| Odell |
WXK-24 |
162.450 MHz |
| Paris |
KXI-47 |
162.525 MHz |
| Peoria |
WXJ-71 |
162.475 MHz |
| Plano |
KXI-58 |
162.400 MHz |
| Princeton |
WXL-22 |
162.425 MHz |
| Putnamville, Ind. |
WXK-72 |
162.400 MHz |
| Racine, Wis. |
KZZ-76 |
162.450 MHz |
| Rock Island (Moline) |
WXJ-73 |
162.550 MHz |
| Rockford |
KZZ-57 |
162.475 MHz |
| Salem |
KXI-49 |
162.475 MHz |
| Shelbyville |
KXI-46 |
162.500 MHz |
| Springfield |
WXJ-75 |
162.400 MHz |
| St. Louis, Mo. |
KDO-89 |
162.550 MHz |
| West Burlington, Iowa |
WXN-83 |
162.525 MHz |
[Illinois
Emergency Management Agency]
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