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This weekend, the National Weather Service is forecasting possible thunderstorm activity. This is the beginning of monsoon season and with it comes thunderstorms with lightning and flash flooding. Lightning associated with thunderstorms can be deadly. According to the National Weather Service, summer is the peak time for thunderstorm activity. In the United States an average of 67 people are killed each year by lightning.
Lightning can cause significant damage, start fires, cause serious injuries and death. No larger than the lead in a pencil, lightning is hotter than the surface of the sun, which means it can start fires very quickly. It can cause significant damage to electronic and communications equipment with no outward signs of damage.
Those struck by lightning can suffer from a number of long-term, debilitating symptoms, including memory loss, attention deficits, sleep disorders, numbness, dizziness, stiffness in joints, irritability, fatigue, weakness, muscle spasms, depression and an inability to sit for a long period, according to the National Weather Service.
The thunder associated with the lightning is due to the extreme heat from the lightning, causing the surrounding air to expand and causing a sonic boom. Lightning can strike as much as 10 miles in front of a storm, it may not even be cloudy where you are (this is where the expression “out of the blue” comes from). If you can hear thunder, this means the lightning is very close to you. If there is a sound like a stick cracking just before the thunder, this means the lighting is several feet away, and you are in extreme danger.
If a storm is approaching or thunderstorms are forecast, you should practice lightning safety. Here are some tips:
When a storm approaches, seek shelter in a building or vehicle. Stay away from windows or doors. Do not stand under trees or other large objects. If you are in water, get to shore and seek shelter, because water is a conductor of electricity. Motorcycle riders should seek shelter in a building.
Stay off telephones and stay away from other electrical appliances. Do not be working on any type of wiring during a storm. Stay away from fences, especially metal ones, during a storm.
Do not take a bath or shower during a storm. Many times homes have metal pipes that can be struck by lightning, even through walls.
To prevent damage to delicate electronic equipment (like computers and stereo equipment) unplug these items from the wall outlet. Underground wiring is not protected from lightning; tests have shown that underground electrical wiring is struck by lightning just as much as exposed wiring.
If lightning is in the immediate area, and there is no safe location nearby, stay a little apart from other members of your group so the lightning won't travel between you if hit. Keep your feet together and sit on the ground out in the open. If you can shelter in a vehicle or building, do so. It is much safer than sitting on the ground.
If a person is struck by lightning, check for injuries. Burns are possible and they may not be breathing or have a heartbeat. Start CPR immediately.
In past years, some incidents associated with lightning in the Las Vegas Valley included:
- A motorcycle rider who was seriously injured after being struck by lightning while driving on Interstate 15.
- A Clark County Fire crew that was struck by lightning while offering medical assistance at a motor vehicle accident off the side of Interstate 15 in the desert.
- The Palace Station was struck by lightning, starting a four-alarm fire in 1999 on the outside of the building.
- A construction worker suffered electrical shock when he was installing wiring in a home that was struck by lightning that went through the wall and hit the wire he was holding.
- A man in the northwest part of the city, who was getting his mail, was shocked by lightning after it hit a tree that was nearby.
Lightning usually causes a number of tree fires during a storm. Trees are tall targets, and burning palms produce embers that can fall and start other fires. In neighborhoods where homes still have wood shake shingles, these embers are an extreme hazard.
Dry lightning is when lightning is produced, but because it is so hot outside, rain never makes it to the ground. This is usually the cause of numerous brush fires, which can lead to uncontrolled wildfires in areas where the small fires are not noticed.
Storms in the Las Vegas Valley usually last less than an hour. It is better to stop your activity, seek safe shelter, and let the storm pass than taking a chance.
More safety information is available along with photos on the NWS Lightning Safety Web page at http://www.lightningsafety.noaa.gov/  .
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