# Human Lightning Strikes **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [August 3, 2014, 3:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/human-lightning-strikes/694718 "2014-08-03T15:23:22Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 13\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![dolphinboy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dolphinboy/32/330_2.png) [@dolphinboy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dolphinboy)\ **Post date:** [August 3, 2014, 3:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/human-lightning-strikes/694718/1 "2014-08-03T15:23:22Z")
I sometimes hear about a person who was walking in a park, or other forested area, and gets hit by lightening during a thunderstorm. I’m not talking about someone on a golf course swinging a metal golf club, just a person wearing normal clothing and walking around. I usually rack this up to being in the wrong place at the wrong time, but I wonder if there’s something more to it than that. If I’m hiking in a forested area, and a thunderstorm rolls in, I try to find a sheltered area under tall trees where I can stay relatively dry, and where I assumed the trees would take any lightening strikes instead of me, but it seems people get struck by lightening even where there are tall trees nearby. So does huddling under trees during a lightening storm protect you, or is this faulty logic, and if getting under trees isn’t a good strategy, what is, assuming there are no buildings or bridges nearby to hide under? ---
**Author:** ![Martin\_Hyde](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/47e85d/32.png) [@Martin\_Hyde](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Martin_Hyde)\ **Post date:** [August 3, 2014, 4:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/human-lightning-strikes/694718/2 "2014-08-03T16:04:03Z")
Yes, it’s faulty logic. It’s essentially widely accepted lightning safety that it’s very dangerous to take shelter under trees in a thunderstorm [link](http://science.howstuffworks.com/nature/natural-disasters/lightning8.htm) (you can find hundreds more off google.) Lightning will take the path of least resistance, and that means it will often strike trees preferentially. But a human is actually a less resistant path than the tree, with its wood/sap vs our bodies which are full of saltwater essentially. So the lightning which initially was attracted to the tall tree, can very easily jump from the tree to your body which is a less resistant path than continuing on down the tree. Current can also spread out from the tree, through the root system and into anyone standing on the roots etc. Lightning can strike the ground and you can be affected by the current some feet away. There are many instances of cattle huddling under a tree for shelter in a thunderstorm, the tree gets struck by lightning, and the farmer now has a bunch of dead cows. ---
**Author:** ![johnpost](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/f17d59/32.png) [@johnpost](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/johnpost)\ **Post date:** [August 3, 2014, 4:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/human-lightning-strikes/694718/3 "2014-08-03T16:10:11Z")
a lightning bolt has a lot of energy to get rid of. it will split into a number of paths and because of the high voltage these paths will jump from thing to thing. so some of a lightning bolt might go into a tree. on its way to the ground some of that lightning bolt might jump out of the tree and go through you to the ground. if you are out in the open the best is to squat down with your feet together. having your body spread out or you feet touching the ground at two different spots is how greater damage might likely happen if you were struck. ---
**Author:** ![engineer\_comp\_geek](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/engineer_comp_geek/32/504_2.png) [@engineer\_comp\_geek](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/engineer_comp_geek)\ **Post date:** [August 3, 2014, 5:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/human-lightning-strikes/694718/4 "2014-08-03T17:35:15Z")
Hiding under a tree is one of the worst things you can do. According to the NWS, 16 people have been killed by lightning so far this year. Two of them were near or under trees. In 2013, five people (out of 23 total lightning fatalities) were killed under trees. In 2012, 10 out of 28 fatalities were near or under trees. Trees are bad for a bunch of reasons. First of all, lightning is many millions of volts at a few hundred thousand amps. If only a tiny fraction of that bolt splits off and goes through you, it is still plenty of electricity to kill you. To put it in perspective, your typical electric chair is a couple of thousand volts and only a few amps. Trees are also bad because the huge amount of energy in a lightning bolt can instantly boil the sap, and the sudden pressure can cause the tree to literally explode. Not only can you be injured by flying tree fragments, but limbs or even the trunk can come apart and huge pieces of tree can fall on you. Here’s what the NWS has to say with respect to lightning safety: > [@](#): > > Lightning: What You Need to Know > > ``` > NO PLACE outside is safe when thunderstorms are in the area!! > If you hear thunder, lightning is close enough to strike you. > When you hear thunder, immediately move to safe shelter: a substantial building with electricity or plumbing or an enclosed, metal-topped vehicle with windows up. > Stay in safe shelter at least 30 minutes after you hear the last sound of thunder. > > ``` > > Indoor Lightning Safety > > ``` > Stay off corded phones, computers and other electrical equipment that put you in direct contact with electricity. > Avoid plumbing, including sinks, baths and faucets. > Stay away from windows and doors, and stay off porches. > Do not lie on concrete floors, and do not lean against concrete walls. > > ``` > > Last Resort Outdoor Risk Reduction Tips > > If you are caught outside with no safe shelter anywhere nearby the following actions may reduce your risk: > > ``` > Immediately get off elevated areas such as hills, mountain ridges or peaks > Never lie flat on the ground > Never shelter under an isolated tree > Never use a cliff or rocky overhang for shelter > Immediately get out and away from ponds, lakes and other bodies of water > Stay away from objects that conduct electricity (barbed wire fences, power lines, windmills, etc.) > > ``` From here: [http://www.lightningsafety.noaa.gov/tips.htm](http://www.lightningsafety.noaa.gov/tips.htm) Statistics and other info here: [http://www.lightningsafety.noaa.gov/victims.htm](http://www.lightningsafety.noaa.gov/victims.htm) ---
**Author:** ![johnpost](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/f17d59/32.png) [@johnpost](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/johnpost)\ **Post date:** [August 3, 2014, 5:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/human-lightning-strikes/694718/5 "2014-08-03T17:48:12Z")
> [@](#): > > Stay away from windows and doors, and stay off porches. one of those recent ones was someone at a window or door. watch from well inside the room. ---
**Author:** ![johnpost](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/f17d59/32.png) [@johnpost](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/johnpost)\ **Post date:** [August 6, 2014, 6:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/human-lightning-strikes/694718/6 "2014-08-06T18:59:51Z")
at this date, 3 of the 18 killed this year in the USA, were under trees. another 1 of the 18 was in a tree. ---
**Author:** ![Colophon](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/f05b48/32.png) [@Colophon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Colophon)\ **Post date:** [August 7, 2014, 9:42am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/human-lightning-strikes/694718/7 "2014-08-07T09:42:28Z")
> [@johnpost](#): > > another 1 of the 18 was in a tree. I don’t like to judge without knowing the full story, but Darwin? ---
**Author:** ![johnpost](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/f17d59/32.png) [@johnpost](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/johnpost)\ **Post date:** [August 7, 2014, 1:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/human-lightning-strikes/694718/8 "2014-08-07T13:53:28Z")
> [@johnpost](#): > > another 1 of the 18 was in a tree. > [@Colophon](#): > > I don’t like to judge without knowing the full story, but Darwin? tree house construction. ---
**Author:** ![Colophon](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/f05b48/32.png) [@Colophon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Colophon)\ **Post date:** [August 7, 2014, 2:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/human-lightning-strikes/694718/9 "2014-08-07T14:42:29Z")
Ah, OK. As for the OP, I think you meant “Human lightning strikes”. Human lightening strikes are what Michael Jackson suffered from. ---
**Author:** ![engineer\_comp\_geek](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/engineer_comp_geek/32/504_2.png) [@engineer\_comp\_geek](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/engineer_comp_geek)\ **Post date:** [August 7, 2014, 6:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/human-lightning-strikes/694718/10 "2014-08-07T18:29:49Z")
**Moderator Note** > [@Colophon](#): > > As for the OP, I think you meant “Human lightning strikes”. Human lightening strikes are what Michael Jackson suffered from. Spelling in title fixed. ---
**Author:** ![johnpost](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/f17d59/32.png) [@johnpost](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/johnpost)\ **Post date:** [August 7, 2014, 7:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/human-lightning-strikes/694718/11 "2014-08-07T19:16:47Z")
at this date, 4 of the 19 killed this year in the USA, were under trees. as mentioned you can get some of the bolt as it leaves the tree or get some electricity into your body as it flows along the ground surface (this is very common). ---
**Author:** ![Baker](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/bb73d2/32.png) [@Baker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Baker)\ **Post date:** [August 7, 2014, 7:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/human-lightning-strikes/694718/12 "2014-08-07T19:25:08Z")
I’ll add a couple of anecdotes to what has already been said. Some years ago a group of local golfers were playing when a thunderstorm started. They sheltered under a tree. Lightening struck the three and one man was killed, as he was leaning against the trunk. The others were hurt but survived. A young man who worked at the Best Buy where I got my first computer was on a school trip to Colorado. They were on Pike’s Peak, but there was no storm. Seemingly from out of the blue lightening struck and killed him. It can happen to someone just walking, and stay out from under the trees during a storm! ---
**Author:** ![Der\_Trihs](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/der_trihs/32/233_2.png) [@Der\_Trihs](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Der_Trihs)\ **Post date:** [August 7, 2014, 9:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/human-lightning-strikes/694718/13 "2014-08-07T21:39:03Z")
> [@Baker](#): > > A young man who worked at the Best Buy where I got my first computer was on a school trip to Colorado. They were on Pike’s Peak, but there was no storm. Seemingly from out of the blue lightening struck and killed him. Lightning can strike as far as [10 miles](http://www.srh.noaa.gov/bmx/?n=lightningfacts) away from a storm, but the distance to horizon is [around 3 miles](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Horizon#Distance_to_the_horizon). They just couldn’t _see_ the storm I expect, it was too far away.