There are myths and misconceptions relating to this subject, so to discuss the topic we need to get up to speed with information based on science and practical experience. There's a very good article I suggest reading called "Backcountry Lightning Risk Management" by John Gookin of The {USA} National Outdoor Leadership School (NOLS, 2010. http://rendezvous.nols.edu/files/Curriculum/research_projects/BackcountryLightningSafety.pdf Find out why lightning doesn't "select a target" till it's quite close to the ground, why lying on the ground may not be the best option, why standing at the entrance to a cave or rock shelter can be dangerous, and lots more.
I've opened this thread after reading several posts in the SA forum posted within the past day or two, which I will copy below.
Quote: A PEMBROKE schoolboy who was struck by lightning died last night in the Royal Adelaide Hospital.
Jackson Marsh, 18, had been on life support in the hospital's intensive care unit since he was hit by lightning while playing football with his mates at Kensington Oval about 2.30pm last Thursday.
He spent his 18th birthday on Sunday being treated in the intensive care unit.
A statement issued by his family said Jackson passed away peacefully late last night with his family beside him.
frown Very sad for his family and friends.
Luckily it doesn't happen very often here. I think those of us who like to watch thunderstorms know the risks..but what are some general tips for staying safe?
I know about not standing under trees. I've heard of laying on the ground and spreading out like a starfish if lightning is nearby (not sure about that one)
I normally just duck down to make myself shorter...but to be honest getting hit with lightning is not a very big concern usually, I've been up on my roof and out on a golf course during nearby storms. Will probably start being a bit more careful from now on.
The best thing to do is get inside and away from windows and doors. If you are outside and cannot get to a car ( It acts as a Faraday cage) or building, remove any metallic items(piercings won't matter) and curl into a ball until it passes.
Trees are not suitable as they explode upon being struck. Do not use the land line phone, disconnect Modems and TV's ETC and never shower during a Thunderstorm.
That's about all you can do, unless someone else has more suggestions :-)
Yeah that pretty much sums it up Keethy (from other thread), if your inside a house or inside a car with the windows up youd have to be extremely unlucky to be hit. I have come way too close for my liking personally, September 3 2010 came within 20m of what I can only assume was a positive. Epic multicelled squall was throwing out cg's like I have never seen, so much greenage to, was ontop of a shed roof (i know stupid) with a very tall antenae 20m to my left. Anyway a huge bolt from the blue just cracked right into it and sent me diving, instant flash/bang, although i dont remember the thunder being that loud but there was two distinct cracks. Stunned me for ten seconds before i legged it for the house, coming that close isn't fun, good wake up call.
Yep, I've had one of those "too close for comfort" moments. I have posted this before but this is video of a storm that went overhead on Nov 2, 2008. NOTE: I was under shelter while filming.
I was out shooting one of the amazingly rare storms that comes inside of 20 km from home, was under the front verandah avoiding the sporadic heavy rain showers. The big tree out front started audibly buzzing and crackling. Very surreal and electric atmosphere. I pointed the cam at the tree in some vain hope of the pic of the decade. The buzzing increased and "WHAM" lightning struck the next ridge over about 300 meters away. This happened twice. Another time I was just standing in the warm rain of a late summer stormy type of thing soaking it up (yes odd lol). A few rumbles were about but all a long way away. Suddenly there was a loud audible "click" and at the same time a massive flash and simultaneously the atmosphere exploded. It was exceptionally close, no idea where it went, it was foggy and raining and I could see nothing. No warning at all, no buzz, no feeling nothing. There have been others but this is the closest. When this poor young bloke was killed in Adelaide recently I was working up a ladder on the side of a house just a few kms from the incident. The cracks were very strong and very deep thunder. And close enough to get me down from the ladder and under cover. It's unpredictable.
I also recall reading somewhere that if you hear a buzz and are not near high voltage power lines, you are in the vicinity of a lot of static charge!!
It could mean even more serious danger Keethy - you may be about to be attacked by a swarm of bees or wasps!
But I jest. Here's a relevant quote from the NOLS paper I refer to above.
Quote:
"Corona: During any stage of a thunderstorm, the electrostatic field can be enhanced enough around grounded objects to cause brush or point discharge (corona). At night, you may be able to see corona as a faint glow from sharp rock outcrops or the tops of bushes or trees — sometimes even from the fingers of your outstretched hand. You may hear corona as a sizzling or buzzing sound.
Even if you can't see or hear corona, you might smell ozone, one of the chemical products of point discharge in air. Ozone has an irritating, acrid "swimming pool" smell.
On land it is unusual to have optimum conditions for sensing corona. If you feel hairs on your head, leg, or arms tingling and standing on end, you are in an extremely high electric field. If you or any member of your group experiences any of these signs, it should be taken as an indication of immediate and severe danger. The response to any of these signs should be to instantly (seconds matter) move away from long conductors, tall trees, or high points, spread out, and adopt the lightning position. Do not ignore these signs and do not try to run to safety, unless safety is literally seconds away. If any of these signs are detected, the probability of a close discharge is high and every effort should be made to minimize injuries and the number of injured.
One possible strategy if you are trying to cross to safer ground and you experience corona is to stop and drop into the lightning position. If there is a nearby strike you often have a little time before the electrical field rebuilds itself. Rise up slowly. If you can rise without seeing any new corona, continue rushing to the safest location available. "
So it seems there are several natural signs that a very close or bullseye strike may be seconds or less away.
Tim I'm not sure that under a veranda is a safe place to be - you might have been in a lot more danger than you realized. But it was very commendable to point the cam at the tree I must say.
You've probably done the same thing as I have in storms - wondered if our camera would survive a direct strike
#1116173 - 23/07/201218:58Re: Lightning safety guidelines - South Australian 2012 discussion
[Re: Unstable]
Chris #3
Weatherzone Addict
Registered: 08/02/2009
Posts: 1176
Loc: Semaphore SA
Cheers for making the thread unstable. Lots of good information
I watched a documentary where a guys camera got struck and the bolt either jumped onto him or got him through the ground. The whole front of the camera was melted down his tripod
"The whole front of the camera was melted down his tripod "
Oh Really I ask you, what is the world coming to when the manufacturers of cameras can't even make them strong enough to withstand a simple lightning strike! Maybe what we really need is our own personal portable foldable faraday cages. Once we've designed a suitable one based on theory, I'm sure our man of steel Hillsrain will volunteer to test it out for us in the field
#1138687 - 07/11/201218:20Re: Lightning safety guidelines - South Australian 2012 discussion
[Re: Unstable]
Chris #3
Weatherzone Addict
Registered: 08/02/2009
Posts: 1176
Loc: Semaphore SA
Posted by the other Chris which generated a lot of discussion -
Originally Posted By: _
Ok, here goes... After Sitting the forth round to hit my place out under the verandah, the thunder had died to an all but distant rumble. I had been setting the camera up just above the gutter, on top of the roof between cells to capture anything further than a 10km radius (30 seconds flash to thunder). I now stay within two meters of the ladder to insure I can grab the camera and be down on the ground within ten seconds if a bolt gets too close. It was still twilight and exposures over ten seconds where oversaturated, so I was shooting by reflex with an exposure time of 1/10s. After two to three minutes of nothing but some distant sheet lightning out over the gulf, the sky suddenly light up with the most massive crawler I have seen. Accompanying the crawler was a sound like dozens of SLR shutters snapping almost simultaneously and a feeling similar to the shock you get from a trampoline, only much more intense. I don't remember any thunder at all from it, although my Wife Hayley said she heard it loudly. I was back on the ground within seconds, then straight inside. For the first couple of minutes it was hard to stand or even talk fluently. I'm not sure if that was because of the zap itself, or adrenalin. Hayley checked my back and at first there was nothing too concerning, however, within an hour a blister had appeared and by this afternoon it has grown quite a bit. A photo I took as the bolt began shows what looks like a positive streamer on the aerial a couple of meters away, making me think the zap on my back was probably one too. What have I learnt from this? We'll, it's that "rules" like the 30 second rule and such aren't rules, but guides. Tips that can help you minimize risk, but nothing will help you eliminate risk short of locking yourself inside at first sign of a storm. A roof isn't any different from a hilltop, or a beach, or an unobstructed beach. Places we all find ourselfs shooting from. It's about weighing up acceptable risk. Too much risk and you'll find yourself constantly exposed, not enough and you will fail to achieve what your hoping for.
Anyway, here's the photo I took when it happened. What I believe is a streamer is on the aerial on the lower left. The photo after it was taken just before with the same settings and shows a comparison of just how bright it was.(The light trails are from me flinching with my hand on the camera)
#1138688 - 07/11/201218:27Re: Lightning safety guidelines - South Australian 2012 discussion
[Re: Chris #3]
Chris #3
Weatherzone Addict
Registered: 08/02/2009
Posts: 1176
Loc: Semaphore SA
Standing on your roof during a storm - not the best idea. The way Chris did it was in the safest manner possible. 10km radius, quick escape if lightning does flang in that area...he was very very unlucky.
I think "on roof during storm" has a bad ring about it, but what about other dangerous situations? I'd bet lots of us have setup in areas in the dark and not realized how flat the terrain is, or how close the storm is, until we get startled by a way too close bolt
_Chris_ I'm really glad you posted on your experience and I hope you're on the way to a 100 percent recovery
In one respect I do think you've considerably underestimated the risks. I refer to "A roof isn't any different from a hilltop, or a beach, or an unobstructed beach. Places we all find ourselfs shooting from."
I've red the majority of posts but not all, on the discussion, so apologies if I'm repeating anything others have said.
As I understand it (someone correct me if I'm wrong please) if you receive a severe shock from lightning, you may either fall to the ground or whatever surface you're standing on, or be thrown some distance by involuntary muscle contractions. If you simply fall, you may start to convulse. If you're thrown some distance you may go over the edge if there's one nearby, and if you land near an edge, convulsions may cause you to fall over the edge. And if you're on a ladder you may fall off it if shocked.
This in my estimate can make roofs and ladders considerably more dangerous in stormy weather than dune or ridge crests, beaches and flat terrain, or near edges such as clifftops, or anywhere where you can fall into water where you might drown.
Grinch also refers to the dangers of being very severely injured by a fall.
Having red a gruesome and detailed account of a group of hikers who were on top of a cliff when struck by lightning - one was convulsing on the edge and fell to his death and another was killed inside a nearby rock shelter - I now stay right away from edges and ladders when storms are around. I take other risks but not that one.
On another point, as many of us will have noted as we scurry for cover, new towers can go up well ahead of an oncoming storm, maybe right above us, or a cg can come down from an anvil well in advance of oncoming storm cumulonimbi, and if we're relying on the 30 second rule, we're going to get a rude surprise.
I'm not being critical of anyone in any way in this post, just adding to the discussion about estimating risks. We could just as easily be discussing a variety of other risks that many of us including myself have taken over the years when chasing or photoing storms.
The whole experience has certainly made me sit back and think about the sort of risks that I personally take when I go out storm chasing. While I'm more likely to die in a car accident on the way there, the odds of being hit by lightning are obviously a fair deal higher if you go and seek the storms out on a frequent basis (luckily, we live in SA :P).
No doubt that there was a fair deal of risk in getting the shots that I did on Monday night and the fact that I was with Lennie (who had had a close call in the NT and was much more submissive) made the whole risk thing a bit more real. I don't think it's going to curb my behaviour very much but it might make me a bit more savvy and try to minimise the risks I take, which is about the only thing I can do bar quitting storm chasing altogether.
The allure of getting a great photo and seeking that adrenaline rush is always going to win out for me at this stage in my life. Who knows, it might change as I get old and more reserved. As I said though, I've got more chance of hurting myself in the car trip - the amount and variety of wildlife we saw wandering around on the road was amazing and you can never trust other drivers either.
#1138860 - 08/11/201214:13Re: Lightning safety guidelines - South Australian 2012 discussion
[Re: seaworthy]
Thunderstruck
Lightning man
Registered: 10/05/2001
Posts: 13374
Loc: Brighton, SA
Ok here are some pics of my close call (courtesy of William Nguyen-Phouc)
This first image shows on the far right a very large and complex upward leader (as examined by Tom Warner, a lightning expert in the USA). FWIW, I was standing 2m to the right of the camera that took all these photos.
If you look closely, you can see another fainter upward leader coming off the fence post through the 'N' of his last name.
A strongly recovered image showing the plasma and sparks/electricity coming off the fence in front of us.
Zoomed in of electricity arcing over and around the termite mound:
Close-up of the fence post:
Essentially the base of the storm was approx 40km away with an anvil over us. A large anvil from a trailing gulf line, which was putting out lots of bolts and crawlers but died right down. Infact there had been nothing for nearly 10mins and we were about to pack up when all of a sudden a bright crawler began and straight away I heard crackles like rice bubbles when you pour milk on them. I was standing next to the car with tripod and after hearing this I took a dive onto the very rocky ground and in mid-air I heard the explosion of thunder, so close it sound more like a giant hot and gassy popping than a bang. Very violently loud and it resonated into the distance for what seemed like forever. I had skinned all my elbows, knees, hands, and some of my chest and face. It seemed like an eternity. Willz thinks he saw it and reckons hit the fence around 10-20m away and we went back later to look for evidence but found none.
But after this we both felt tingles for 2-3hrs after and seriously bad shock. We were later told we probably were the initial target of this 58Kamp positive bolt but the crackles were rejected leaders and it picked something else. The current/tingles felt was the minor charge going through us from these leaders or possibly a side-flash on grounding.
So yea, in these recent storms, I was very edgy, much much more than I used to be, if I saw a crawler go overhead, I was in the car in a flash. They can drop down in an incredibly RANDOM manner, much harder to predict than normal base bolt CG's.
Really I ask you, what is the world coming to when the manufacturers of cameras can't even make them strong enough to withstand a simple lightning strike! 
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