how can you tell if a lightning storm is near you and what are some precautions?
354046
You can tell how far away a lightning storm is by listening to the thunder. I can't find it in my science book, but it takes about five second for sound to travel a mile, so watch the lightning, and after it flashes, count how many seconds it is before you hear the thunder. If its like five seconds, its a mile. like that. look at these websites.\n\n\nhttp://www.tornadochaser.com/tormake20.htm\n\nhttp://www.islandnet.com/~see/weather/whys/thunder2.htm
369302
Q: Is it safer to swim in salt water than fresh water if lightning is in the area?\n\nA: It is definitely NOT safe to swim when lightning is in the area in any type of water. Even if current lightning is a few miles away, lightning can pop up in new parts of the storm very quickly. Salt water conducts electricity, which means that it can easily travel through the water toward you. The lightning current may spread out in all directions and dissipate within 20 feet or so, but don’t bet your life on how close the strike will be. As the highest object on the water, you may be the most likely target. \n\nAnswers archive: Lightning safety and survival\nhttp://www.usatoday.com/weather/resources/askjack/archives-lightning-safety.htm\n\n-------------\n\n The voltages involved in lightning are so high that even materials that would normally be considered non-conductive become conductors, including the human body. The voltages are so massive that if they start to travel through a boat's structure - say through its mast - then meet with high resistance (for instance, the hull skin) the current discharge, in its attempt to reach ground, may simply blow a hole in the non-conductive barrier. The safety conscious Captain should make sure that his vessel is properly protected. Reference should be made in detail to the standards for lightning protection as set forth by the American Boat and Yacht Council (ABYC) and the job should be performed by a licensed marine electrician.\n\nCone of Protection from Lightning - Faraday's Cage\nhttp://www.boatsafe.com/nauticalknowhow/lightning.htm\n\n------------------------------\n\nElectrical current can easily travel through them and then to you.\n\nLightning protection tips\nhttp://www.aroundcentralflorida.com/features/lightning/
780379
spark,lightning,thunder,shower
1180080
A car's frame is made of metal.  If lightning strikes the car, the metal will conduct around you through the metal because metal is a better conductor than your body is.  Unsafe is electricity going through you.  Do not stand upright in a storm or even under a tree.  Also don't lay flat on the ground because if lightening strikes near you, the conduction through the ground may offer more resistence than your body and the electricity may take a shortcut through your body.  Best thing without a car is to squat down.
621977
Only if you're paranoid. There's more chance of being struck by lightning than getting a virus on a mac.
461908
We are having bad storms tomorrow too so a few things I would do is make sure you have an area to hide, clean and ready, have shoes ready, and have a radio or t.v. ready to find out information...
422005
A localized storm- often happens with very strong thunderstorms.  Its raining and lightening here, but 5 miles away it is not, for example.  It may be even more localized than that - 1/2 mile away it isnt raining.
742265
Lightning causes relatively few deaths.\nSnowstorms cause far more.
380667
When you see the lightening, count seconds until you hear the thunder.  Each second is approximately 1 mile.
367010
Actually 50% of all lightning fatalities occur inside the house when people talk on the telephone, take a shower or are in contact with any other conductors while lightning strikes their home.  I personally would not count on the surge protector to save my life, I would just shut down the computer, stay away from all electrical and just read a book until the storm has passed.  Remember, lightning is the number 2 weather killer in the US each year (73 deaths) just surpassed by flash floods.
1613
Lightning occurs in different forms.  Forecasters note the occurance of lightning as in-cloud, cloud-to-cloud, cloud-to-ground and cloud-to-air.  The most frequently occuring form is cloud-to-cloud lighting. Cloud-to-ground lighting occurs only about 20 percent of the time.
1164895
During an electrical storm, all objects in the area send up streamers.  The first object whose streamer connects with the streamer from the clouds will complete the circuit and the discharge or lightning bolt will flash.  Usually, the tallest & most conductive object will be the one whose streamer wins the prize of the electifying experience.  So, if there are tall buildings in the area, then a tree has a lesser chance.  If it is forest or woods area, then the first tree whose streamer gets there has the best odds.  Just don't stand close to the tree if it is a pine tree.  When piine sap is instantly heated, it rapidly expands and causes the tree to explode.
1140623
maybe someone got shot right outside your window while it was raining.. perfect cover\n\nNo, really the different sounds are created by different frequencies and wavelentghs of the vibrations caused by the electricity splitting the air. This can vary from the sonic boom you hear when a F15 crosses Mach 1 .. to the crack noise you hear with a whip. As for the loudness, it is a function of intensity and proximity.. so yea the same lightning will be louder when its closer.. but it could also be a very strong lightning far away.. the way you could tell would be the difference in light and sound... \n\ni hope this helps
1083933
That kind of lightning are usually called  cloud to clud lightning, and  occurs  at very high altitudes between clouds at different altitudes (1,000 ft,).  there's no thunder because  the charges are  not  making ground like when they touch  earth.
336832
I would make sure there was not a lightening storm outside first is all.
696446
Each drop of rain, or snowflake, carries a very tiny electrical charge as it falls.  When you get a concentrated amount of rainfall or snowfall in a local area with a lot of updraft/downdraft activity, as with a cumulonimbus cloud, whose height can top 60,000 feet, there is a large amount of electrostatic charge that builds up between the cloud and the ground, and also from cloud to cloud.  When the charge is huge enough to overcome the dielectric resistance of the air between, there's an arc, or discharge, of that static electricity, visible as lightning.  The thunder is the sound of that huge spark as it jumps the gap.  Since sound travels only about 760 MPH through air (approx. 1100 ft / sec), while light's speed 186000 MPS is so much faster, the delay in hearing the thunder is a good approximate indicator (in fifths of a mile), of how far away the lightning strike was.
88827
You have a better chance of being struck by lightning.