PUBLIC SAFETY

Emergency Preparedness: Lightning Strikes!

Weather Spotter Classes scheduled in May, 2023

The National Weather Service in Gaylord, MI is holding three new spotter classes for this spring. Two are virtual, one is at the library in Traverse City, MI, organized by NWS Warning Coordination Meteorologist Pat Bak of NWS Gaylord, MI.

Additional NWS information can be found on http://www.weather.gov/gaylord

Last Resort Outdoor Risk Reduction Tips

If you are caught outside with no safe shelter anywhere nearby the following actions may reduce your risk:

• Immediately get off elevated areas such as hills, mountain ridges or peaks

• Never lie flat on the ground

• Never shelter under an isolated tree

• Immediately get out and away from ponds, lakes & other bodies of water

• Stay away from objects that conduct electricity (barbed wire fences, power lines, windmills, etc.)

Electrifying Facts

• There are an estimated 25 million lightning flashes in the U.S. annually

• Lightning kills nearly 50 Americans every year

• Lightning heats in the air up to 50,000°F (5x hotter than the sun’s surface!)

• Lightning Creates both ozone and nitrates of oxide (fertilizer)

• Lightning helps keep the atmosphere in balance

Learn More About Lightning Safety

Check out all the great web sites to know more about weather safety for you and your family while enjoying the outdoors this spring and summer season. NATIONAL www.weather.gov/lightning www.weather.gov/safety/lightning-tips

NWS has more photos showing the damage of lightning strikes.