![]() Absolutely never take your chances being outdoors during a thunderstorm. Unless it develops extremely quickly, you should be able to head to secure shelter long before the storm arrives. Even if you haven’t yet arrived at your destination, always be willing to head to safety (even if that means turning back) if bad weather develops. Whether you see bolts, hear thunder, or detect an imminent storm, head to shelter immediately. You may think it is safe if you are far away from the storm, but if you can hear thunder, you aren’t safe. Even if there is blue sky above, lightning can travel up to 10 miles horizontally before striking the ground. The most obvious sign of a lightning storm, however, is thunder. ![]() Dark underbellies, changing winds, and a scent of rain all indicate bad weather. ![]() Weather can change quickly, so always be mindful of the clouds. Look at the forecast before going hiking or camping and know the weather patterns of the area. While enjoying the outdoors, you need to always pay attention to the changing weather. Always find a substantial, closed shelter in which you can ride out the storm, whether you see lightning or not, long before it reaches you. While the following article does provide safety tips for how to survive thunderstorms and lightning strikes when no safe shelter is available, the information serves to only lower the risk of being hit as there is no way to completely avoid it while outside. makes it clear that there are no safe places outdoors when lightning or thunder are in the area. ![]() Although the odds of you being injured are slim, it’s essential for everyone, especially hikers, backpackers, and campers, to learn and understand lightning safety. Injuries don’t only occur from a direct strike by a lightning bolt, but also by making contact with an object electrified by lightning such as metal or the ground, as well as explosions or fires caused by the strike. While up to 90% of strike victims survive, nearly 80% of survivors sustain serious, life-long effects such as neurological and internal injuries. As many as 24,000 people are killed annually by lightning strikes, with a yearly average of more than 50 fatalities in the United States. ![]()
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