ROANOKE, Va. – This week marks the 20th year of Lightning Safety Awareness Week.
The week falls just days ahead of July, the most active time of the year for thunderstorms and the deadliest month for lightning-strike fatalities.
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While the average number of lightning-related fatalities has decreased over the past 20 years, it’s important to know how to keep yourself and others safe from getting struck.
A majority of lightning-related injuries and deaths occur while people are outdoors. Despite what you may think, there is no safe place outside to avoid being struck during a lightning storm. There are plenty of things you can do if you find yourself in this situation.
The best option is to head indoors until the storm passes. While heading inside is your safest option, lightning can also enter a structure through wires or pipes that extend outside and through the ground.
It’s important to keep this information in mind, but also note that there is a lot of misinformation out there. If you ever have a question, you can always ask your local meteorologist. Here are some myths about lightning versus the facts.
With all of this said, there is a lot of information about lightning that you educate yourself on. Here’s an interesting fact that you may not know: