Whether inside or outside, anyone in contact with anything connected to metal wires, plumbing, or metal surfaces that extend outside is at risk. Most indoor lightning casualties and some outdoor casualties are due to conduction. Metal does not attract lightning, but it provides a path for the lightning to follow. Lightning can travel long distances in wires or other metal surfaces. Because large farm animals have a relatively large body-span, ground current from a nearby lightning strike is often fatal to livestock. The greater the distance between contact points, the greater the potential for death or serious injury. Typically, the lightning enters the body at the contact point closest to the lightning strike, travels through the cardiovascular and/or nervous systems, and exits the body at the contact point farthest from the lightning. Because the ground current affects a much larger area than the other causes of lightning casualties, the ground current causes the most lightning deaths and injuries.Ground current also kills many farm animals. In addition, ground current can travels in garage floors with conductive materials. Anyone outside near a lightning strike is potentially a victim of ground current. When lightning strikes a tree or other object, much of the energy travels outward from the strike in and along the ground surface. Most often, side flash victims have taken shelter under a tree to avoid rain or hail. Side flashes generally occur when the victim is within a foot or two of the object that is struck. In essence, the person acts as a “short circuit” for some of energy in the lightning discharge. While the ability to survive any lightning strike is related to immediate medical attention, the amount of current moving through the body is also a factor.Ī side flash (also called a side splash) occurs when lightning strikes a taller object near the victim and a portion of the current jumps from taller object to the victim.
Weatherbug lightning strikes skin#
The heat produced when lightning moves over the skin can produce burns, but the current moving through the body is of greatest concern. In most direct strikes, a portion of the current moves along and just over the skin surface (called flashover) and a portion of the current moves through the body-usually through the cardiovascular and/or nervous systems.
Direct strikes are not as common as the other ways people are struck by lightning, but they are potentially the most deadly. Most often, direct strikes occur to victims who are in open areas. Immediate medical attention, including calling 911, starting CPR, and using an AED, may be critically important to keep the person alive until more advanced medical care arrives.Ī person struck directly by lightning becomes a part of the main lightning discharge channel. Any of these types of strikes can be deadly. It is not always possible to know exactly how a victim has been struck, but here is a list of ways that lightning strikes its victims.
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