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And the lightning strikes
Published: 6/21/2011 7:00 AM
Last Modified: 6/20/2011 9:30 PM

Lightning strikes near downtown Wichita, Kan., on Thursday, June 16, 2011 as a line of thunderstorms moved through the area. (AP Photo/The Wichita Eagle, Travis Heying)

One of my favorite hobbies is sitting on the back porch at my folks’ house in Arkansas and watching storms roll across the pasture. The lightning shows there are really spectacular, as the bright tentacles spread across the inky sky.

But behind the beauty, it can be easy to forget just how deadly lightning can be.

The National Weather Service is using this week to remind people about lightning’s dangers and provide tips on how to stay safe during the storm. This week is Lightning Safety Awareness Week.

Lightning strikes have killed five people so far this year, including a first responder who was helping in the aftermath of the Joplin tornado. Three of those were working in their fields and another was playing golf.

In 2010, 29 were killed. Between 2001 and 2010, four people were killed by lightning in Oklahoma.

I’ve had my close calls with lightning. Being from this part of the country, we like to watch the storm from as close a vantage point as we can get. This cavalier and daredevil approach probably has something to do with why, since records started in 1959, 85 percent of lightning victims are male, according to Donna Franklin, lightning safety program leader with the weather service.

“So it’s especially important that we teach young men to make wise decisions during thunderstorms,” she said. “When people hear thunder, they need to immediately stop what they are doing and go inside.”

That’s their main point: When you hear thunder, it’s time to go inside.

Here are the weather service’s tips to stay safe during a thunderstorm:

Get into a fully enclosed building or hardtop vehicle at the first rumble of thunder

Stay indoors for 30 minutes after the last thunder clap

Monitor the weather forecast when you’re planning to be outdoors

Have a plan for getting to safety in case a thunderstorm moves in

Do not use a corded phone during a thunderstorm unless it’s an emergency

Unplugged cell phones are safe to use indoors

Keep away from plumbing, electrical equipment and wiring during a thunderstorm

--Jerry Wofford

Oh, and Happy Summer Solstice!

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Almanac

Jan	Feb	Mar	Apr	May	Jun
Jul	Aug	Sep	Oct	Nov	Dec

	Temperature		Precipitation
Date	High Temp	Low Temp	Total	Month to date	Historical average
1	44°	16°	0	0.00	0.05
2	59°	24°	0	0.00	0.11
3	57°	33°	0	0.00	0.16
4	68°	37°	Trace	0.00	0.21
5	69°	29°	0	0.00	0.26
6	66°	33°	0	0.00	0.32
7	59°	38°	0.05	0.05	0.38
8	51°	34°	0	0.05	0.44
9	44°	36°	0.01	0.06	0.51
10	62°	37°	0.07	0.13	0.57
11	54°	28°	0	0.13	0.64
12	44°	30°	0.25	0.38	0.70
13	55°	40°	0.01	0.39	0.76
14	°	°			0.83
15	°	°			0.89
16	°	°			0.95
17	°	°			1.02
18	°	°			1.09
19	°	°			1.16
20	°	°			1.23
21	°	°			1.31
22	°	°			1.38
23	°	°			1.46
24	°	°			1.53
25	°	°			1.61
26	°	°			1.69
27	°	°			1.77
28	°	°			1.85

TEMPERATURE

RAINFALL

SNOWFALL

Weather World

Follow Jerry Wofford on Twitter for updates during severe weather conditions.

Tulsa weather milestones of 2013 (as of Feb. 12)

Highest temperature: 70 on Jan. 11 (Record: 115 on Aug. 15, 1936)
Lowest temperature: 15 on Jan. 16 (Record: Minus-16 on Jan. 22, 1930)
Hottest month (average): 40.5 degrees in January (Record: 91.7 degrees on July 1980)
Coldest month (average): 40. 5 degrees in January (Record: 21.7 in January 1918)
Most snowfall (day): 0.1 of an inch on Feb. 12(Record: 13.2 inches on Feb. 1, 2011)
Most snowfall (month): 0.1 of an inch in February(Record: 22.5 inches in February 2011)
Most rainfall (day): 0.91 of an inch on Jan. 29 (Record: 9.27 inches on May 26-27, 1984)
Most rainfall (month): 1.54 of an inch in January (Record: 18.18 inches on September 1971)
Highest wind speed: 30 mph on Jan. 30
Previous day with any rain: Feb. 12
Previous day with 1 inch or more of rain: Oct. 17, 2012
Previous day with any snow: Feb. 12
Previous day with freezing temperatures: Feb. 12
Read regular updates on Oklahoma's unpredictable weather and learn more about meteorology from the Tulsa office of the National Weather Service.

>> Visit the main weather page
>> Send us your weather photos
>> Meet the forecasters

Contributors
Staff Writer Althea Peterson started writing for the Tulsa World in March 2007 after previous stops at the Norman Transcript in 2006 and the Oklahoma Gazette in 2005. She followed her older brother from rural Wisconsin (with a public school that never seemed to call snow days) to the University of Oklahoma, but did not follow his pursuit to study meteorology. However, she tries to find as many opportunities to report on the weather as possible.

Staff Writer Jerry Wofford came to the Tulsa World in 2010 from The Manhattan Mercury in Manhattan, Kan. Originally from western Arkansas and a graduate of the University of Oklahoma, Jerry has lived in Tornado Alley his entire life and is one of those people who goes outside when the sirens go off.

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