Lightning strikes water while swimming

If youre at the beach and hear thunder or see lightning get out of the water. Swimming pools arent necessarily safer.

If you are swimming in the beach and lighting strikes the water will you get electrocuted.

Lightning strikes water while swimming. Statistics from the US show that between 2006 and 2015 there were 71 water related deaths from lightning strikes of which 20 were of people in boats and 8 were swimming. This doesnt prove that youre safer in the water than on a boat as we dont know the relative number of people involved in each activity but the bottom line is that you can definitely be killed by lightning while on or in the water. A direct strike is not the only way lightning can kill you.

When lightning strikes. In fresh water what makes lightening so dangerous to a swimmer is that most of the current travels on the surface of the water so rather then getting a 1r2 falloff in current density you see a 1r falloff. Obviously eventually it will be conducted down into the mass of the water but this takes a many meters.

If Youre In the Pool During a Lightning Strike While your swimming pools water conducts electricity your body is actually a much better conduit. Just as lightning prefer high things it also prefers better conduits. Therefore the odds of you being directly struck are high compared to the odds of the water striking just the water near you.

A typical lightning flash measures about 300 million volts and 30000 amps according to the US National Weather Service - enough to kill. Most of the electrical discharge spreads horizontally. If you are swimming in the beach and lighting strikes the water will you get electrocuted.

If it is close to you you will get electrocuted or worse perhaps lose a limb or die if struck on the head. If it is far away you might feel a jolt of electricity but you will live. If really far away you probably feel nothing.

A 15-year-old Alabama girl died after being struck by lightning while swimming in the water near Tybee Island in Georgia. According to a press release from the Tybee Island Police Department the. What Happens When Lightning Hits Water.

When lightning strikes a body of water what happens is simple. The electric charge doesnt penetrate far into the water. This is why there arent dozens of dead fish popping up after every storm.

Instead it spreads along the surface discharging horizontally. As for how far it can spread estimates vary. When swimming attracting lightning strikes to your direct vicinity can be just as fatal as attracting a strike immediately to yourself which is my next point.

So much for the risk of being hit. Another concern with swimming during a lightning storm is the danger of any lightning strike regardless of whether or not it hits you. Lightning doesnt strike the ocean as much as land but when it doesit spreads out over the water which acts as a conductor.

It can hit boats that are nearby and electrocute fish that are near the surface. If youre at the beach and hear thunder or see lightning get out of the water. If lightning hits the middle of a lake water has got some salts in it so it will conduct electricity a bit.

You would conduct electricity better. So if youre swimming in a lake and theres a big current from the lightning strike flowing through the lake it sees you as a kind of short as it can jump 2m to an easy path. The risks of injury or dead are very real but if the lightning strikes a metal object like a ladder in the pool in such a big pool it seems possible many swimmers away from that entry point can survive because they may be not in the shortest path the electricity will follow to the ground.

But i dont recommend to try it. And swimmers do in fact sometimes get struck by lightning. In 2005 for instance three people were struck while swimming in the ocean near Tampa and four more were hit two of them seriously injured in waters off Chiba Prefecture Japan.

Swimming pools arent necessarily safer. A recent case in Brazil involved a thunderstorm which struck while people were swimming in the sea. A woman abandoned the sea and was immediately killed by a lightning strike but if shed kept swimming she may have been much safer - the current should prefer to flow round you in sea water rather than through you.

While we do not advise hopping into an outdoor pool during a raging thunderstorm we can assure you that should you disregard that advice and lightning strikes during your swim. However it is NOT safe to swim whenever lightning is likely in your area period. All types of swimming water are unsafe even if the thunderstorm is taking place a few miles away.

That is because lightning can travel many miles away from the edges of a storm. It can hit in areas unaffected by the rest of the storm. This guy wanted to go for a swim in the outdoor pool during a rainstorm.

However as soon as he jumped in a lightning bolt struck the water. The guy escaped any injury and got back out quickly. Venice Beach lightning strikes leaves swimmer dead and 7 hospitalized after thunderstorm Daily Mail Online Swimmer 20 killed and seven hospitalized after being struck by lightning on Venice.

23 a 23-year-old college student was struck by lightning while swimming in the Outer Banks. Jeff Hampton KITTY HAWK NC. A 23-year-old Columbia University student died recently after.

The woman 38 and child 12 were both struck by lightning at about 610 pm. On Monday while swimming in the sea close to a beach at Clam Pass Park in Naples Florida according to local station. Swimming boating personal watercraft or sailsurf boarding are all dangerous activities when lightning is in the area.

Scientists know little about what happens when lightning hits water. It is not clear how deep a lightning strike will travel down through the water. A canoeist trapped with his wife on an island in Hong Kong waters on Thursday died after being struck by lightning while swimming towards a boat to seek help.

About one-third of lightning-strike injuries occur indoors. Here are some tips to keep safe and reduce your risk of being struck by lightning while indoors. Avoid water Do NOT bathe shower wash dishes or have any other contact with water during a thunderstorm because lightning can travel through a buildings plumbing.

Not only can lightning strike twice but it can also strike the ocean. If you hear thunder get out of the water. If you are in a boat get back to land.

Swimming pools are connected to a much larger surface area via underground water pipes gas lines electric and telephone wiring etc. Lightning strikes to the ground anywhere on this metallic network may induce shocks elsewhere. The National Lightning Safety Institute recommends the following swimming pool safety procedures.