What is a Side Flash?Ī side flash (or side splash) occurs when lightning strikes a taller object near you and a portion of the current jumps from the taller object to your body. This means you can be several miles away from a lightning strike and still launch an upward leader. All you need to do is be in a high electric field or be close to any channel of the lightning flash. You do not have to be close to the strike point for this to happen. Trees and other tall objects can also launch upward leaders. When lightning strikes the ground, you can launch an upward leader. Upward leaders are responsible for 10% of lightning fatalities. Streamersare a part of most lightning strikes. The video below shows an Earth Networks Total Lightning Network analysis of a case where a lightning strike traveled through a cell phone charging wire and struck a teenager. Lightning can travel a long distance in wiring or other metal surfaces, which is one of the many reasons why conduction lightning strikes kill people both indoors and outdoors every year. Remember to always take indoor lightning safety seriously. Indoors, this includes anything that plugs into an electrical outlet, water faucets and showers, corded phones, and windows and doors. People both inside and outside are at risk for conduction lightning strikes if they are in contact with anything connected to metal wires, plumbing, or any other metal surfaces, like a chain-link fence. While metal doesn’t attract lightning, it does unfortunately provide a path for the lightning to follow.Ĭontact strikes account for 3% of all lightning strikes. What is Conduction?Ĭonductionlightning strikes happen when lightning travels through wires or metal surfaces before hitting a person. These lightning strike victims often do not know a lightning threat is present. during the first six months of 2019 alone? That’s 8,170,185 potential direct lightning strike victims!ĭirect lightning strikes often hit people open areas. Did you that our total lightning detection network detected 8,170,185 cloud-to-ground lightning strikes in the U.S. While direct lightning strikes are potentially the most deadly, they are the least likely to occur.ĭirect lightning strikes are almost always cloud-to-ground lightning strikes. When you about think being struck by lightning, a direct strike is probably what comes to mind first. Normally it moves through the cardiovascular and/or the nervous systems. Then a portion of the current moves through the body. The technical phrase for this process is “flashover”. If you’re struck by a direct lightning strike, a portion of the current moves along and just over the skin surface. Ground Current (Indirect) What is a Direct Lightning Strike?Ī direct lightning strike is when lightning strikes a person directly, meaning the person becomes a part of the main lightning discharge channel.Īccording to our lightning scientists, direct strikes are responsible for the least amount of lightning strike fatalities and injuries, accounting for just 3%. There are five ways lightning can strike you: Indirect lightning strikes are responsible for most human lightning injuries and fatalities. While direct strikes can hit people and even kill them, that’s not the most common way it happens. When you think of lightning striking a person, you might imagine a strike directly hitting them. No treatment is required because these lesions are not burns however, physicians should be aware of the possibility of concomitant thermal burns that may require intervention.Don’t Have Time to Read the Entire Guide Now?ĭownload a PDF version of the guide you can reference later. 1 Lesions are asymptomatic and appear within an hour of exposure on moist skin (which can conduct electrical current), and last up to 48 hours. The pathophysiology of Lichtenberg figures is unknown but may involve damage and leakage from cutaneous blood vessels owing to transmission of electrical current through the skin. 1 Other clues suggestive of lightning injury include arrhythmias and rhabdomyolysis. These figures were first described by Georg Christoph Lichtenberg in 1777 and are a useful diagnostic tool for injury caused by lightning because patients frequently present unconscious or unable to recall a history of lightning strike. Lichtenberg figures are nonburn skin injuries that are pathognomonic for lightning exposure. (A, B) Left flanks of 2 young adults showing Lichtenberg figures after contact with electricity from a lightning strike.
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