Summertime marks peak thunderstorm season in the United States. It’s common for quick, strong storms to roll in, bringing with them things like lightning, downpours and hail.
Beyond the weather issues, these storms are also dangerous for those who don’t follow proper thunderstorm safety.
“The summer months of June, July and August are … the highest risk for lightning fatality,” said Aaron Treadway, the National Weather Service’s severe weather program coordinator.
According to Chris Vagasky, a lightning safety specialist with the National Lightning Safety Council, 479 people have died from lightning strikes from 2006 to 2023, and many more have been injured.
To protect yourself from lightning and other storm-related problems, there are habits (some of which you’re probably already doing) that you should avoid. Here’s what meteorologists never do during a thunderstorm:
1. They don’t stay outside during a thunderstorm.
“The biggest point to remember is that there is no safe place outside from lightning during a thunderstorm,” Treadway said. “The safest place to be is inside either a sturdy building, like a home or a place of business, or actually in your car.”
There is a major reason why cars and sturdy buildings are the safest.
“You want to be somewhere that is fully enclosed with electrical and plumbing in the walls or in that fully enclosed metal vehicle, because then the electricity travels through the metal shell of the car or it travels through the plumbing and the electrical, and it avoids you,” Vagasky said.
2. They don’t ignore thunder.
“If you’re close enough to hear thunder, you’re actually close enough to be struck by lightning,” Treadway said.
That means it’s not advisable to do things like stay in the pool for an extra few minutes as you watch a storm in the distance or sit outside at a baseball game until the rain starts.
“Lightning can strike 10 to 15 miles away from the core of a thunderstorm — so where all of the heavy rain is falling,” Vagasky said.
These lightning strikes are called “bolts from the blue” and can strike an area that isn’t even seeing rain yet, Treadway explained.
“Let the storm pass, and then we say to wait for half an hour after you hear that last clap of thunder before going back to your summertime activity … so that you are ensuring that that thunderstorm is far enough away,” he said.
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