Yesterday I was paddling the South Platte river in Denver with a friend. It began raining so we pulled over to the shore under a small tree to put on our rainjackets. As we were standing on the shore, lightning struck the grove of trees across the river from us, less than 50 yds away. Needless to say, it scared the **** out of us.
My question is, what is the safest place to be in that kind of situation? Obviously, under a tree on the bank was not it. However, the general rule is to find a ditch and crouch down. Since the river is the lowest point in the area, is crouching beside the river the best course of action? Or, is it even safer to be in a plastic canoe on the water? There were high tension electric lines on our side of the river. Is lightning attracted to or repelled by them? We ended up running about 50 yds from the river to a small building at a nature center. But we were exposed and about 10' higher than the river level at that point. It was raining heavily by this time and the natural reaction is to find shelter from the rain as well as the lightning. Not sure that is wise since whatever shelters you from the rain is higher than the surrounding land.
That was about as close to a lightning strike as I ever want to get. The thunder was deafening.

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1977 300d 70k--sold 08
1985 300TD 185k+
1984 307d 126k--sold 8/03
1985 409d 65k--sold 06
1984 300SD 315k--daughter's car
1979 300SD 122k--sold 2/11
1999 Fuso FG Expedition Camper
1993 GMC Sierra 6.5 TD 4x4
1982 Bluebird Wanderlodge CAT 3208--Sold 2/13

Get the hell away from trees. Actually where I come from (South Africa) there were lotsa deaths from lightening strikes every year. Probably still are for all I know. Never really did hear of a good way to avoid it except to try and make yourself as close to the ground as possible. Which to my way of thinking would mean away from any tree or similar large object and lie flat on the ground. Of course that means you'll get soaked but it's either that or fried.

I've often wondered what the mountain men used to do.

- Peter.

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1981 240D 4spd stick. 389000 miles.
1984 123 200
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1972 Cadillac Sedan DeVille
1971 108 280S

Under a tree isn't the place to be, period. I'd think in your situation as low along the river bank as possible w/o actually being in the water. Any sort of depression is better than no cover or being elevated.

Hi-tension power pylons are grounded and they're usually above the surrounding terrain which will have them often take a hit but it's no guarantee of a strike being directed towards one.

Our farm is bisected by a megawatt transmission line and over the last few years I've had a lot of opportunities to watch nearby lightning strikes. One particular pylon is on a hilltop about 1/2 mile directly south of the barn and during storms we sometimes sit and watch it for a hit. On a few occasions, I've seen lightning strike in the tree line 1/8 mile from the pylon and a good 100ft lower in elevation from the pylon's topmost part.

Before the strike occurs, the air becomes ionized between the cloud and ground. This is the path the strike takes. But, wind currents can disrupt and disturb the ionized area, moving it around from one region of grounding to another and I believe that this is what makes the actual impact point unpredictable.

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I know what you mean about deafening.

On several occasions I've been less than 100yds from a strike. One was at a softball diamond...they called the game because of the weather turning bad. It was a co-rec game in the 70's and all the girls had long hair...as they were walking off the field to the dugout, everyone's hair started standing out on end like they'd grabbed a van DeGraff generator. Within seconds of seeing the hair stand out, lightning hit a tree about 75 yds behind the diamond. That tree was only marginally taller than the field's light poles.

The flash and thunderclap was damned near simultaneous.

Not too long after that, I was working for an outfit that erected business-band radio towers and maintained radio repeaters. We'd gone out to a tower site to do some work one summer afternoon and the weather turned foul. We wisely elected to stay in the truck, back off from the tower and wait for the fun to start. Didn't take long.

That time the bolt seemed to stay attached for several seconds to the finial on the uppermost antenna and I swear you could hear a low frequency hum. That sensation of the bolt being in contact for several seconds may have been like the time foreshortening some people describe when witnessing a collision. Once again the light and report were simultaneous.

We went up and serviced the antenna after the storm passed...the finial had been a tapered, cast aluminum cone-shape that came to a point. After the strike, the last 3/4" was missing leaving a dime-sized crater.

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Never a dull moment at Berry Hill Farm.

Here's good proof that lightning doesn't always strike the highest point (the tall white pole in the background it the launch pad's lightning rod).

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Never a dull moment at Berry Hill Farm.

Kerry....find a cave!

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[SIGPIC] Diesel loving autocrossing grandpa Architect. 08 Dodge 3/4 ton with Cummins & six speed; I have had about 35 benzes. I have a 39 Studebaker Coupe Express pickup in which I have had installed a 617 turbo and a five speed manual.[SIGPIC]

..I also have a 427 Cobra replica with an aluminum chassis.

NOAA's website has some great tips about lightning safety.
http://www.lightningsafety.noaa.gov/outdoors.htm

They mention though that if there is lightning that if you're outside you are not safe at all

Section 2 has a lot of great tips about being stuck without a vehicle or building to run to. Scroll down and take a look. They say hang out near a bunch of trees that are low to the ground. Granted they say that none of these tips are safe and you may still get hit by lightning.

Here's a picture from the website

Lightning struck the fence and zapped all of the cows

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According to that NOAA site, we lucked out. The tree we had gone under to put our rainjackets on was on the east bank and about 20 or 30' shorter than the grove of taller trees on the west bank where the lightning hit. It wasn't a deliberate choice. The river was swift and deep on the west bank near the tall trees and shallow and still on the east bank.
I've read that laying down is not a good idea since it exposes your whole body to lightning running thru the ground. But crouching down beside the river near the steepest portion of the river bank may have been our best choice. Glad we didn't end up like those cows.

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1977 300d 70k--sold 08
1985 300TD 185k+
1984 307d 126k--sold 8/03
1985 409d 65k--sold 06
1984 300SD 315k--daughter's car
1979 300SD 122k--sold 2/11
1999 Fuso FG Expedition Camper
1993 GMC Sierra 6.5 TD 4x4
1982 Bluebird Wanderlodge CAT 3208--Sold 2/13

I'd be devastated if I found my cows dead like that.

And with a fence strike, you don't have to be all that close to the actual strike to get popped.

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Never a dull moment at Berry Hill Farm.

Stay away from atheists.

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I'd be devastated too and I don't even own cows.

Do you leave your cows outside in the rain? I have some horses and when it rains they are more than happy to come in when I open the gate. Cows i wouldn't be too sure about.

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-Typos courtesy of my mobile phone.

Poor cows.

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1984 300D, 228k, Light Ivory, Java MB-Tex

Kerry,
A group of us here do a bit of canoeing. Everything from afternoon trips to 2 week journeys. About 10 years ago a group of us were on a trip. Mid afternoon, the clouds rolled in & the thunder started. Lightning was hitting the trees along the river banks (we have some large red gum forests), several lost limbs, we just stayed in the canoes in the middle of the river. It went on for about 20 minutes, no one stuck a paddle up! We all got soaking wet. Our main concern was having a tree fall on us. I think if I felt the ionization sensation, I would be doing an Eskimo roll in the canoe & hoping the lightning hit while I was under.

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1967 230-6 auto parts car. rust bucket.
1980 300D now parts car 800k miles
1984 300D 500k miles
1987 250td 160k miles English import
2001 jeep turbo diesel 130k miles
1998 jeep tdi ~ followed me home. Needs a turbo.
1968 Ford F750 truck. 6-354 diesel conversion.
Other toys ~J.D.,Cat & GM ~ mainly earth moving

Other than getting moved from pasture to pasture, the cattle are pretty much on their own a large part of the time. I built some loafing sheds for shade and I've yet to see one of the cows inside one of them. And, the donkeys stand around and look stupid...but, I really think it's an act so that the get some feed.

We have a carport here by the cabin and in heavy rain the cows all will crowd into the cowport.

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Never a dull moment at Berry Hill Farm.

Tree fell into the river right behind my wife last year on the North Platte river.
We were in open canoes. Do you kayak or canoe?

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1977 300d 70k--sold 08
1985 300TD 185k+
1984 307d 126k--sold 8/03
1985 409d 65k--sold 06
1984 300SD 315k--daughter's car
1979 300SD 122k--sold 2/11
1999 Fuso FG Expedition Camper
1993 GMC Sierra 6.5 TD 4x4
1982 Bluebird Wanderlodge CAT 3208--Sold 2/13

isn't it spelled lightning ?

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