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Old 05-10-2015, 07:01 PM   #2
Civicsman
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Join Date: Jul 2007
Location: Freedonia!
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I understand that auto tires will insulate you from lightning, but what is safe if you get caught in a storm on your seg?
That's not correct. Tires or other rubber items do very little to protect one from a lightning strike. What helps in a car is the metal body, which acts as a Faraday cage. Lightning that strikes a vehicle travels through the metal wrapper and to the earth below. On the bottom side of the car, it either travels through the tires (there's lots of conductive carbon in those "rubber" tires") or arcs directly to the earth. Remember that lightning has already arced down from the cloud. It can certainly arc another foot from the bottom of the car to the ground. If you don't touch the metal parts of a car inside, you'll likely be OK. Aircraft get struck all the time.

With an approaching storm, you must get OFF the Seg and get away from it. Standing upright, it's like you are standing on a ladder. You're a prime target for the "leaders" which are looking for the easiest path to the earth. Don't shelter under trees, as they can sometimes quite literally explode when hit by lightning, driving splinters of wood into anything nearby.

If you are caught in a storm with lightning and you really have zero shelter, such as being in a field, crouch down with your arms wrapped around knees, and feet positioned so that they touch each other. It's better to do this in a depression in the earth, if you have the option. There are arguments that say laying down prostrate is a better solution, but I subscribe to the "potential difference" theory. Lightning which strikes the earth electrifies the area around. The point of strike has the highest instantaneous voltage with respect to the earth, and the voltage drops as the distance increases from the strike point. If lightning strikes the earth near to you, and your feet are far apart, there will be a large voltage across your body, and electrical current could flow through your body. This might actually be worse that being struck directly. With your feet close together, there will be relatively less voltage across your body. BTW, there seems to be agreement that umbrellas are good for shedding rain, but you don't want to be holding one in a lighting storm.

Most storms don't come out of nowhere and start flinging off lightning bolts within seconds or minutes. It takes time for the storm to build. Get yourself a good warning application, such as Storm for iPhone, which notifies you when lightning or precipitation are approaching. If you're going gliding in storm season, maybe make a plan for where and how you would shelter safely, and, perhaps pack a folded plastic trash bag for rain protection.

My research says that if the lightning flash-to-thunder time is less than 25 seconds, you're already in the potential danger area for a lightning strike.
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