Avoiding Disaster: Myths & Facts About Wyoming Lighting

Going backpacking or camping in Wyoming?

You'll have a great time.

Wyoming has a lot of open spaces and summer thunderstorms abound.

So what do you do if you see lighting and you are out in the open in Wyoming?

I hate to tell you this, but almost everything you've been told is wrong, according to a recent article in Backpacker Magazine.

A lot of research into what does and doesn't work has been done over the years. Here is what we know today.

Sleeping on a pad to insulate your body from ground strikes doesn't help.

The idea that touching metal increases your risk of getting struck is another myth.

According to Dr. Ron Holle, a meteorologist and safety specialist for the Lightning Safety Council,

“The lightning position is useless,” he says. “There’s a lot of speculative, ‘I suppose this could work,’ sort of advice out there. But I have a file cabinet with about 5,000 cases of people being killed or injured by lightning, and none of those ‘I suppose’ methods work.”

Dr. Kristin Calhoun, a research scientist with the National Severe Storms Laboratory agrees and offers these suggestions:

“If I was in an open field, I wouldn’t assume that position,” she says. “I would run.” Finding lower ground and getting under uniform tree cover are some of the few things that can measurably decrease your lightning risk, she says. (NOLS, for its part, agrees that finding shelter should be a hiker’s first priority in a storm.) She adds that standing or sitting on a sleeping pad “makes no difference” that she’s aware of. Better to leave the pad in your pack and focus on moving to a safer location. (Backpacker Magazine.).

 

The storm does not need to be directly over you. You can get struck by a storm that’s up to 10 miles away.

Standing under a tree can sometimes be worse than standing out in the open.

For the love of PETE- DO NOT stand under a tree. The tree will get hit and you'll get zapped along with it.

Metal doesn’t attract lightning so you can stand under a metal or wooden roof, it's all the same.

But if metal is struck it can conduct electricity.

Hiding in your tent will not prevent lightning from striking you.

“Since 2006, more people have died [from lightning strikes] while camping in tents than while hiking by themselves,” Calhoun says. “You also see these horrific accidents where numerous people are injured at once because they’re in a confined area that gets struck.”

So you found a cave and you want to hide in there. I hate to tell you this but lighting is going to jump around the mouth of the cave to you and use your body as a shortcut.

If you are out in the open you can squat down to not be the tallest object. But do not lay down. If lighting hits the ground it will then go through your entire body.