This week is National Lightning Safety Awareness Week. Each year about 25 million cloud-to-ground lightning strikes in the United States. Ohio averages about 460,074 strikes per year! Lightning is dangerous and strikes can be deadly. There are a lot of myths floating around about lightning, so here are a few debunked!
Lightning can’t strike the same place twice.
False: Lightning often strikes the same place more than once especially if it is a tall isolated object. The Empire State Building actually gets struck about 23 times per year!
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Rubber tires keep you protected if lightning strikes your car.
False: It is the metal frame of your car that keeps you safe, not the rubber tires. The roof and sides of a car that are metal will allow a lightning strike to travel through it and into the ground. This also means that convertibles, motorcycles of cars with a fiberglass shell can’t keep you safe.
If it isn’t raining or cloudy over you, you can’t get struck by lightning.
False: It can look like a beautiful summer day where you are standing but lightning can strike from a storm 10-15 miles away. These strikes are called “Bolts from the Blue”
Remember, if you hear thunder, go find a safe shelter immediately. Don’t wait around.
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