This news item expired on Friday, July 1, 2005 so the information below could be outdated or incorrect.
Lightning is the most dangerous and frequently encountered weather hazard experience in America. It is the second most frequent killer in the United States with nearly 100 deaths and 500 injuries each year.
Afternoon summer storms are common in the mountains and with outdoor recreation being a big part of our lives in Buncombe County, we all need to be very aware of lightning and know when and how to react when a storm begins.
before leaving shelter. Don't be fooled by sunshine or blue sky! If it is cloudy or objects are obscuring your vision, get inside immediately.
The golf course is one of the worst places you can be during an electrical storm. Golf Magazine offers these interesting facts about lightning bolts:
- Lightning bolts are approximately the size of a quarter in diameter
- Last about a quarter of a second
- Strike the Earth 50 to 100 times per second at any given moment
- Contain somewhere in the neighborhood of 100 million electrical volts
- Can be five miles long from base to tip
- Are much hotter (50,000 degrees F) than the surface of the sun (about 10,000 degrees F)
- Kill more people in Florida each year (nine on average) than in any other state