camping in thunderstorms

[rowerwet]

http://www.mos.org/sln/toe/safety.html quiz on lightning safety, and the worlds largest Van De Graph generator site link http://www.mos.org/sln/toe/ as someone who has spent many hours in this museum, the electricity show is worth the admission price even if you skip the rest of the museum. And they are only playing with 2.5 million volts or so, according to the website, more than one operator has been hit while doing the show, it feels about 10 times worse than hitting your funny bone, but is not deadly as the domes are drained by every bolt, unlike a storm cloud...

[angib]

I'm about as concerned about being hit by Lightning as I am winning the Lottery!

In over 60 years of camping, and a lot of that in the rain. lightning has never been even close.

Now Meteors and Space Junk....that's your real problem.

OK, now I'm drifting a bit off topic here, but when it comes to listing the things you really need to be worried about, I think this British beer advert hits the spot.

I hope you guys can understand the actor's accent as it's a bit thick and that the video plays OK in North America:



And I think absolutsnwbrdr hasn't grasped the real situation - personally I'm worried about all Velociraptors, not just the pesky ones......

[bdosborn]

54 people a year died from lightning strikes.

http://www.lightningsafety.noaa.gov/fatalities.htm

100,000 people a year die from hospital acquired infections.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nosocomial_infection

I'd worry more about a visit to the hospital than lightning.

Bruce

[TJinPgh]

I was tent camping a few years ago when the remnants of hurricane Ivan made it's way through central PA.

Nothing like the folks in the southern states saw, of course. But, there was still a good bit of wind for a tent to deal with and one heck of a lot of rain.

The temp, being September, was already starting to drop. Inside of the tent ended up a swamp by about 1am. Could only lay on your side as there was only enough space dry in the tent for two people to sleep that way. Shoulder still hurts from laying that way on the hard wet ground all night.

After that, though, not a whole lot bothers me. Though, I do still get a little paranoid about leaks in heavy rain.

Had a pretty good thunderstorm this past Saturday while tent camping nearby. Tent held up really well, though (different tent). No real leaks but, after several hours of continuous rain it did begin to soak through the material on the rain fly.

I put all the bedding in a large plastic tote and went out for a while. A few small puddles when I got back but nothing a few paper towels couldn't handle and the bedding was nice and dry.

[Techguy]

No thunderstorms this past weekend but pretty good "thunder" of a bear trying to get into the bear proof dumpsters on the other side of the camp ground.

FYI.. tents do not provide much sound protection and should not be considered bear proof.

[Ira]

Guess I am a bit more of a fatialist. I never worried about the lightning as the trees were a hell of a lot taller then the teardrop. However I did kinda worry about where that giant limb or for that matter the entire tree would land if it gave way in the storm.

I have some bad news for you:

Lightning always hits the ground first--the height of an object has nothing to do with it.

Yes, that tree you thought got a direct hit from lightning didn't. It hit the ground first, and then took the charge coming off the ground.

[wagondude]

I saw an impressive photo once, (not able to find it with a quick web search) of a lightning strike. What made this photo so impressive was that the strike had not officially occured. The photo showed the ion trails eminating up from the ground, as well as other higher objects in the area, and the stronger ion trail coming down from the sky. the next photo in the series showed that the contact of the two ion trails came several feet above the ground (this is why standing body hair can be used as a warning for an eminent strike). The path of the lightning is the strongest of the ion paths from the ground, not the highest. also the lightning does not become that bright shaft wer see untill the contact is made.

[Engineer Guy]

Here's a pic and good explanation. Note the top of the Utility Pole to the left...

Lightning Strike Pic + Explanation

[TJinPgh]

I have some bad news for you:

Lightning always hits the ground first--the height of an object has nothing to do with it.

Yes, that tree you thought got a direct hit from lightning didn't. It hit the ground first, and then took the charge coming off the ground.

Depends on the type of lightning.

More often than not, the bottom of the tree is not what got struck. Lightning typically hits up higher and the fluids in the tree act as a conductor and draw the electricity toward the the ground. Much like the same way a lightning rod directs the flow down through the cable into the ground.

If lightning always struck the ground first there would be no point in telling people not to stand under a tree during a storm as it would be no more likely to hit the ground in that spot than any other.

[Lgboro]

Living in NC where thunderstorms are common and is among the highest rate of injury and death from lightening in the country, I can assure you that wise people take the threat of injury from severe weather seriously. I had lightening run through a barbed wire fence I was holding up for a few friends to pass and put me on my back some 12 feet away so you can be assured I will do all I can to locate a safe place to ride out a storm. I guess people in the mid west don't need to bother with tornadoes as only a small percentages of people are killed by tornadoes.