Thunderstorm Safety

The area was hit with severe yesterday as the first thunderstorm of the season which brought thunder, lightning and heavy rain in a short time span. One of my classmates informed me that in his area they also received hail.
I have always found thunderstorms interesting. The dynamic of how they form and are able to produce such phenomenon like tornadoes and lightning is what got me into meteorology. I would watch the storms from the porch of my home in South Jersey, with my father as my mother would stay inside the house and think that we were both crazy. Learning the structure of the storms now and the intensity that most can produce, I must say that we were a little crazy watching the storm from the porch as the lightning would strike a couple of yards away from us. Thunderstorms are serious and should not be taken lightly, especially in the case of lightning or hail. According to Mike Utley, a lightning strike survivor and founder of Struckbylighting.org, 70% of lightning strike incidents occur before and after a storm. I had the pleasure of meeting Mr. Utley in the Spring of 2008, when he came to speak at my school. He told his amazing story about how he was struck by lighting while playing golf and after the strike he spent 38 days in the intensive care unit and 2 months of rehabilitation. He created the website to educate the public about the dangers of thunderstorms and lightning and offer tips on how to stay safe. Below are a few other facts on lightning:

• Lightning is the only weather-related thing that goes from Earth into outer Space (blue jets).
• Lightning travels up an down and DOES strike MORE THAN ONCE (up to a 100 times a second), it is a “straw” through the air, it’s not a constant charge though it is a negative to positive charge.
• The average lightning bolt is 6 to 10 miles long and the record is 106 miles ( so just because you see lightning in the distance, it does not mean that it can not “reach out and touch you.”)
• A car is safe from lightning because of the metal frame, NOT BECAUSE of the rubber tires.
• Lightning is 5 times hotter than the sun.
• Lightning strikes tall, objects and that “NOTHING ATTRACTS LIGHTNING.”
• When lightning strikes something with moisture on the outside (i.e. sweat, rain) it is more likely to travel on the outside, also know as a flashover (reducing the risk for extreme damage) , when lightning strikes something the is dry, it is more likely to travel through the object (lets just say scientists tested this on a dry piece of wood and the wood exploded).

Water Update!!!! The rain from yesterday’s storm as well as the precipitation we received the day before, has greatly helped with the water deficit situation. Though we are still below the average for this time of the year, yesterday’s storm alone brought 0.42 inches of rain to our area.

Area Forecast (valid March 31st to April 5)

We can expect sunny skies and temperatures in the lower 60s tomorrow as high pressure builds over the area throughout Tuesday, which will be moving offshore by the evening where we can expect temperatures in the lower 40s with mostly cloudy skies. A cold front will move across the region as we can expect temperatures to reach into the mid 50s for Wednesday and Thursday as well as a chance of rain for both days. Another frontal system is projected to pass through on Friday when we can expect a high temperature around 58 and chance of showers. For the weekend high pressure is expected to settle in with milder temperatures for the region.