“Head to your cars or the school. NOW!”
As the coach shouted, another rumble of thunder sent us all running for safety. Soccer balls rolled away unattended. No one argued. Play stopped, and kids ran. Thunder means lightning, and lightning can kill.
While living in Kansas, I watched the bolts emerge from the clouds and strike the earth quickly. All the adults listened for the first rumble whenever we were at a sports field. We all went to our cars or buildings for safety when one person heard it. We stayed away from windows and listened to the weather reports. In Kansas, storms roll across the plains as fast as a brush fire burns a dry field. Thunder often scares people, but you have to worry about lightning.
Lightning can strike the earth or pass between clouds. When it is cloud-to-ground lightning, it can transfer a billion joules of electricity to whatever it strikes. That is more than the energy used to power a typical city daily.
The difference in electrical charges between clouds and the earth causes lightning. Lightning causes thunder as it moves through the air. If you hear thunder, you know lightning is in the air. If lightning strikes the earth, it releases electricity, passing through any living creature and causing injury or stopping their heart. It can set a dry field aflame or take down mighty trees.
My father loved to watch storms, but he respected their power. He taught me to watch from a place of safety. Count the seconds between seeing lightning and hearing thunder, then divide this number by five to determine how many miles away you are from the storm. Sometimes, you may see the lightning, and other times, you may not. If you hear thunder, you know lightning is somewhere, even if you can’t see it.
We could still hear the thunder long after the storm had passed. Once the storm passed, the kids begged to be allowed outside, but we waited 30 minutes more. Lightning can travel miles very quickly, so caution is always needed. Most of the time, we canceled whatever we were doing and headed home.
Living on the plains allowed us to see the storms rolling in. They were beautiful and wild, yet powerful. Learning about their power and unpredictability can help you stay safe. The third whole week in June is National Lightning Safety Awareness Week. It is an effort by the National Weather Service to help increase lightning safety. They have many ways to stay safe and facts about lightning at https://www.weather.gov/safety/lightning
Take some time to study lightning. Look for where lightning strikes. You can see the bark explode off a tree. Or you could find the burn from the hit. Just remember to listen for thunder and stay storm-aware.
Do you like storms? Have you seen something hit by lightning?
