Lightning Safety

safety-and-preparedness

When lightning is in the area, your objective is to lower the chance of a strike connecting to you or your group. The safest approach combines three ideas: distance from the sto...

weather-climate

In the period following reports of a new Smyrna Beach lightning strike, local responders and officials confirmed that a lightning event led to injuries and prompted emergency ca...

weather-safety

Lightning strikes in Georgia are a recurring weather hazard tied to the state's hot, humid summers and frequent afternoon thunderstorms, with the Southeast recording some of the...

safety

Lightning strikes that kill a football team are rare but highly consequential events. When lightning interacts with an open athletic field, the results can be sudden, severe, an...

safety

When lightning strikes, the most important actions happen in the first few seconds and minutes. Your priorities are to get to a safe place, protect life, and prevent secondary h...

weather-and-climate

Lightning is far more common in some U.S. states than others, and the differences are driven by geography, storm type, and seasonal climate patterns. The states with the most li...

Science & Weather

Umbrella lightning refers to the phenomenon where a lightning strike occurs near or under a conductive umbrella, often in open or exposed areas. It is not a distinct type of lig...

science-and-nature

Lightning is an electrostatic discharge accompanied by thunder, resulting from imbalances inside thunderstorms and between storms and the ground. When electric fields within a s...

Celebrity Profiles

On the evening of July 2, 1881, a severe thunderstorm passed over Washington, D.C., and a cloud-to-ground lightning strike affected the grounds of the White House while Presiden...

Guides And Explainers

Death by lightning is real but statistically rare. Lightning strikes can cause fatal cardiac arrest, burns, trauma, or secondary injuries, yet global annual rates are low per pe...