Research, Technology

What are the most common places lightning strikes and how to escape from them

The lightning that occurs during a thunderstorm isone of the deadliest natural phenomena in the world. When lightning strikes a person, a discharge with a voltage of tens of millions to a billion volts passes through the body. The statistics of lightning strikes in people in each source is different - some say 6,000 deaths per year, while others provide information about 24,000 deaths. From childhood, we are told that lightning usually hits high places, so during a thunderstorm you should never hide under tall trees. This is true, but what other places can get a powerful discharge and where in the world is the highest risk of dying from an electric shock? Scientists already know the answers to these questions - we just have to get acquainted with them.

Lightning has favorite places to hit, which we'll talk about now.

Important: there are some interesting articles on our siteabout lightning. In one of them, we told in detail why they arise, here it is. There is also a material on the maximum length of zippers, which is available at this link.

Content

  • 1 Where do thunderstorms most often occur?
  • Where does lightning strike most often?
  • 3 How to escape from a lightning strike
  • 4 Do I need to turn off the equipment during a thunderstorm

Where do thunderstorms most often occur?

Scientists have long known that storm cloudsare formed in places of collision of air masses with sharply different pressure, temperature and humidity. Such conditions most often occur in tropical continents, near the equator line - in South America, Africa, Southeast Asia, and so on. In these areas, the earth heats up the most and the air, rising into the cold sky, does not have time to cool. As a result, he sharply collides with masses of cold air and lightning occurs.

Thunderstorms in Africa are common

It follows from this that most often thunderstorms occurnear the equator. But this natural phenomenon is not uncommon in other countries - Russia is no exception. Usually thunderstorms come in hot summer and the reason for this has already been explained above. The air warmed by the summer sun rises, does not have time to cool down and provokes lightning. In some places lightning is an anomaly. An example is the place where the Catatumbo River flows into Lake Maracaibo (Venezuela) - every year there are up to 200 thunderstorm days and there is the highest probability of dying from a lightning strike. This frequency is explained by the fact that at this point in the world a large concentration of methane in the air was recorded, which increases the imbalance in the troposphere.

Lightning Catatumbo

Interesting fact: at the moment in the Russian North there ismelting glaciers, which is accompanied by the release of large amounts of methane. Perhaps soon an abnormal number of thunderstorms will begin to be recorded in Yakutia and nearby territories.

Where does lightning strike most often?

Scientists call lightning extremely lazy naturalphenomenon. The fact is that they are always looking for the shortest path to the Earth, and therefore they hit high objects. Most often, powerful discharges hit skyscrapers - according to statistics, more than 20 lightning strikes New York's 102-story Empire State Building every year. In Russia, the tallest building is the Ostankino Tower, 540 meters high - lightning strikes it up to 40 times a year.

Most often, lightning strikes skyscrapers

As a rule, when lightning strikes a skyscraper,the people inside survive. But a high discharge almost always leads to a violation of the insulation of electrical wiring, breakdown of electrical equipment and fire - this can already lead to death. In 2020, powerful lightning struck one of the skyscrapers in China, resulting in a bright fiery flash that illuminated the entire surrounding space with light. In the video below, you can see a huge vertical column of yellow-orange sparks.

Giraffes often become victims of lightning

Fishermen need to be especially carefulare sailing in boats. The fact is that when there is only water surface within a radius of several kilometers, a person in a boat becomes the tallest object - this is the easiest target for lightning.

You will be interested: Ball lightning is the most mysterious natural phenomenon.

How to escape from a lightning strike

To begin with, let's clarify what is in no case impossibledo during a thunderstorm. The most important thing is not to hide under tall and even more so detached trees. During a thunderstorm, such objects become the most accessible target. Even if a person does not get a discharge, he can be fatally injured from a tree that explodes into pieces or be crushed. If a thunderstorm caught in the wild, it is best to squat down in some lowland and clasp your knees with your hands.

When struck by lightning, the tree can shatter into pieces

While in the city, it is best to run intosome store or at least an entrance. Waiting for the thunderstorm to end at a transport stop is a bad idea because they don't have lightning protection. As in nature, in the city you need to stay away from trees and other tall objects.

Interesting and little-known facts about lightning. Read in this article.

Should you turn off your appliances during a thunderstorm?

Opinions on whether to turn off during a thunderstormsmartphone, differ. Some people believe that just in case, the phone needs to be turned off - it creates a small magnetic field that can attract an electrical discharge. Others believe that the magnetic field of smartphones is so weak that it cannot cause an accident. My colleague Andrey Zhukov has already talked about why it is not necessary to turn off your smartphone during a thunderstorm - read here.

It is best to turn off all electronics during thunderstorms.

But unplug electronic equipment from the outletneed. The fact is that if lightning hits power lines, high voltage can occur in the network and the equipment will simply burn out. This can happen even if the device was not working, but was simply connected to the network. So, just in case, it's better to turn off the electronics during a thunderstorm - it won't take long, but it can save a lot of nerves.

And now is the time to look at our Zen channel. There is an article about Roy Sullivan, who survived seven lightning strikes. Here is the link.

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