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As thunderstorms continue for much of the state, weather experts are warning outdoor enthusiasts to remain aware of strategies to avoid lightning hazards.
According to the National Weather Service’s storm data, between 1989 and 2018, the U.S. has averaged 43 reported lightning fatalities per year. Only about 10% of people who are struck by lightning are killed, leaving 90% with various degrees of disability. More recently, the U.S. has averaged about 27 lightning fatalities per year.
In 2022 so far, there have been 13 deaths that were directly related to lightning in the U.S., and all have happened since June 22. Though none have happened in Colorado this summer, six of them were tourism or recreation related, including one in Wyoming when a 22-year-old man was camping. Alan Smith, a meteorologist who writes the “U.S. Daily Summit” for OpenSnow, said that hikers need to be aware of not only weather happening in the moment but weather that could potentially move into the area.
While light travels faster than sound, a quick burst of lightning is often missed by the eye. Some lightning may be obstructed by mountains and other features of the landscape, so officials say if you can hear thunder, a lightning-producing storm is close enough to hit you.
“Once you hear thunder, then that means a thunderstorm is close enough so that you are in danger of lightning, and that means it’s time to start heading down toward safer terrain,” Smith advised. “This is true in the case of both developing thunderstorms and approaching thunderstorms. If you can hear thunder and see lightning, then you can count between the lightning flash and the resulting thunderclap to estimate how far away the lightning strike occurred. Every five seconds in between lightning and thunder is approximately one mile.”
