Have you ever heard the saying "WHEN THUNDER ROARS, GO INDOORS!" ?

It was a slogan created for good reason, as lightning is one of the deadliest weather phenomena - beaten out by only tornadoes and flooding. 

National Lightning Safety Awareness week was started in 2001 to call attention to this underrated killer. Since then, U.S. lightning fatalities have dropped from about 55 per year to less than 30. The reduction in fatalities can certainly be attributed to greater awareness of the dangers of lightning, leading people to seek safety during thunderstorms. 

The probability of being struck by lightning in any given year is roughly 1 in 1.2 million, and the odds of being struck in your entire lifetime are about 1 in 15,000. These statistics are based on averages from 2009 through 2018, and are actually significantly more favorable for being struck (1 in 700,000 and 1 in 3,000, respectively) than in decades prior - yet another positive result from increased awareness.

As is the case with most weather awareness weeks, each day is designated a different topic of lightning safety:

 

You may think that living in the Northeast presents much less of a lightning risk than other areas of the country. Think again. From 1959 to 2014, New York ranks eight in lightning fatalities, while New Jersey ranks 24th. While these numbers can partially be attributed to state size and population, we unquestionably see a good deal of electric storms throughout the year.

 image courtesy: NOAA