How can thunderstorms affect us

Where are severe thunderstorms most common? The greatest severe weather threat in the U. But, no place in the United States is completely safe from the threat of severe weather. A watch can cover parts of a state or several states. Warnings mean there is a serious threat to life and property to those in the path of the storm.

ACT now to find safe shelter! A warning can cover parts of counties or several counties in the path of danger. How does a thunderstorm form? As the air rises, it transfers heat from the surface of the earth to the upper levels of the atmosphere the process of convection. The water vapor it contains begins to cool, releases the heat, condenses and forms a cloud. The cloud eventually grows upward into areas where the temperature is below freezing. As a storm rises into freezing air, different types of ice particles can be created from freezing liquid drops.

The ice particles can grow by condensing vapor like frost and by collecting smaller liquid drops that haven't frozen yet a state called "supercooled". When two ice particles collide, they usually bounce off each other, but one particle can rip off a little bit of ice from the other one and grab some electric charge.

Lots of these collisions build up big regions of electric charges to cause a bolt of lightning, which creates the sound waves we hear as thunder. If that time is 30 seconds or less, the thunderstorm is within six miles ten kilometers of you and is dangerous.

Seek shelter immediately. The threat of lightning continues for a much longer period than most people realize. Wait at least 30 minutes after the last clap of thunder before leaving shelter. Don't be fooled by sunshine or blue sky! People involved in activities such as boating, swimming, fishing, bicycling, golfing, jogging, walking, hiking, camping, or working outdoors all need to take the appropriate actions in a timely manner when thunderstorms approach.

In summer, especially on a holiday, more people are outside, on the beach, golf course, mountains, or ball fields. Outdoor jobs such as construction and agriculture, and outdoor chores such as lawn mowing or house painting are at their peak, putting people involved in danger. Swimming is particularly dangerous, as not only do swimmers protrude from the water, presenting a potential channel for electrical discharge, but also because water is a good conductor of electricity.

As with the outdoor activities, these activities should be avoided before, during, and after storms. Most people hurt by lightning while inside their homes are talking on the telephone at the time. Surge protectors do not protect against direct lightning strikes.

Unplug equipment such as computers and televisions. Cardiac arrest and irregularities, burns, and nerve damage are common in cases where people are struck by lightning. However, with proper treatment, including CPR if necessary, most victims survive a lightning strike, although the long-term effects on their lives and the lives of family members can be devastating. For a shelter to provide protection from lightning, it must contain a mechanism for conducting the electrical current from the point of contact to the ground.

These mechanisms may be on the outside of the structure, may be contained within the walls of the structure, or may be a combination of the two. Inside a structure, lightning can follow conductors such as the electrical wiring, plumbing, and telephone lines to the ground. Many small open shelters on athletic fields, on golf courses, in parks, at roadside picnic areas, in school yards, and elsewhere are designed to protect people from rain and sun, but not lightning.

Small wooden, vinyl, or metal sheds offer little or no protection from lightning and should be avoided during thunderstorms.

Regardless of the method of entrance, once in a structure, the lightning can travel through the electrical, phone, plumbing, and radio or television reception systems. Lightning can also travel through any metal wires or bars in concrete walls or flooring. Lightning can travel long distances in both phone and electrical wires, particularly in rural areas. In general, basements are a safe place to go during thunderstorms. However, avoid contact with concrete walls, which may contain metal reinforcing bars.

If you plan to unplug any electronic equipment, do so well before the storm arrives. Do not wash your hands, do not take a shower, do not wash dishes, and do not do laundry. Tall buildings and monuments are frequently hit by lightning.

Avoid being near a lightning rod or standing near metal objects such as a fence or underground pipes. All rights reserved. And what does it mean if your hair starts to stand on end during a thunderstorm?

Share Tweet Email. The high pressure of these lightning strikes can cause earthly damage, especially to metal objects. The pressure can be even more destructive when lightning strikes a small, closed area, such as a crack in a wall or a capillary in a tree. When pressure gets high enough and passes through tree capillary, the tree can explode. Jane McDonaugh has been a professional writer and editor since , with expertise in literature, television, film and humor.

She is a freelance reader for Author Solutions Film and has held many other positions in television and film production. TL;DR Too Long; Didn't Read An industrial electrical shock can carry between 20 to 63 kilovolts, but a lightning strike delivers a whopping kilovolts.

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