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Photo Hansueli Krapf, CC BY-SA 3.0

Lightning and storms

Seeing a thunderstorm coming, where to be when it hits, and when it is safe again.

Seeing it coming

How

  1. Count the seconds from flash to thunder. If you can hear thunder at all, you are close enough to be struck.
  2. Get off open water, ridges, hilltops and open barrens before the storm arrives.
  3. The safe places are a building or a hard topped vehicle with the windows up. A tent is not shelter.
  4. Caught outside, go to a low spot or a stand of lower trees, well away from any lone tall tree, open water and wire fences.
  5. Spread a group out several metres apart so one strike cannot hit everyone.
  6. Wait 30 minutes after the last thunder before you go back out.

Do and don't

Do
  • Head for shore at the first thunder, not the first flash overhead.
  • Put down fishing rods, poles and paddles and move away from them.
Don't
  • Do not stand under a lone tree.
  • Do not stay in a canoe or on a dock.
  • Do not huddle together in a group.

Watch for

Danger
  • A person struck by lightning carries no charge and is safe to touch. If they are not breathing, start CPR and call 911.
  • The wind ahead of a storm line can flatten a tent, drop dead trees and roll a canoe. Look up before you pitch a camp.
  • Lightning can strike well ahead of the rain. Blue sky overhead does not mean you are clear.

Notes

When thunder roars, go indoors, and stay there for half an hour after the last rumble. That is the whole rule.

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Updated 2026-09-20

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