You may have heard that lightning never strikes the same place twice. Well, that’s not true. Many of the tall buildings in the world are struck multiple times each year by lightning. In this article, I’m going to separate the facts from the myths and answer some of the frequently asked questions about lightning.
Do the rubber tires on a car protect you from lightning? No, the rubber tires on a car, bike or other vehicle won’t protect you from lightning. What will protect you is the outer metal shell of a hard-topped metal vehicle (no convertibles). Cars are struck by lightning every year. Usually, the lightning damages the electronics in the car and blows out a tire or two, but the people inside are safe (but often a bit scared by the incident).
How hot is lightning? Lightning is electricity. As electricity passes through something it causes heat. When lightning passes through the air, it can heat the air to as much as 50,000 degrees Fahrenheit — five times hotter than the surface of the sun. When lightning strikes a home, it can create enough heat to ignite a fire.
How powerful is lightning? There’s enough electricity in a flash of lightning to power a light bulb for about a year. However, because a lightning flash happens in a small fraction of a second, all that power is discharged in a small amount of time and causes a very bright flash.
Does the lightning go from the cloud to the ground or from the ground to the cloud? The answer is that lightning goes both ways. In the most common lightning flash, negative charges move from the cloud to the ground as a bright flash moves from the ground to the cloud.
How fast is lightning? The stepped leader which precedes the flash moves downward at 300,000 mph. The bright flash moves upward at 300,000,000 mph — now that’s fast!
Do planes get struck by lightning? Yes, on average each commercial jet is struck once a year. Commercial planes are designed to withstand a lightning strike. If struck, the lightning passes through the outer shell of the plane.
Does metal attract lightning? No, this is a common myth. However, if struck, metal wires and poles will conduct the lightning discharge.
If a pond or lake is struck by lightning, will all the fish die? No, most of the electricity spreads out along the water’s surface. As long as the fish are not near the surface of the water, they won’t be harmed by the lightning strike.
John Jensenius
NOAA Lightning Safety Specialist
