Lightning Kills! (beware)

[Eracer]

From a direct strike, this is true. But more often than not, strikes that hit people and cause them to go even unconsious are from standing under something they shouldn't be.

Statistics show that direct shots from lightning are less apt to kill a person than getting hit by a car sometime in your lifetime. It's second only to accidental firearm discharge as the least likely way to die from an accident according to many life insurance policies.

So, if you wann commit suicide, don't do it by standing on the 15th tee with a 2 iron in your hand. You're better off stepping in front of a bus.

R35

Or stand on the 15th tee, already 5 hours into a round behind some nimrods hitting their 8th shots into the green...

 

[Fourputt]

Most of the time when people are "struck by lightning", the bolt itself doesn't actually hit them. They are usually victims of the step voltage from being nearby. When lightning hits a tree when you are standing under it, usually the bolt itself goes down the tree and into the ground, then the charge from the ground nails the person standing there. Thus they get electrocuted more often than they get incinerated.

 

[Wi-Golfer]

This accident happened about 10 miles from my work, the storm was short but very nasty. We had a few lightning strikes along with intense thunder that literally had a few of us at work jumping.

I have not played Odana Hills yet but have played the 3 other Madison public courses & those all seem like they are well run. Story in the paper made this sound funny since the 75 yr old had called his wife when the storm started & said he would be late getting home as a result of it. His wife reported that her husband would want everyone to know that he had 2 pars in the 1st 4 holes.:dead: The old man gets wacked & his wife wants to comment on his game?

The police & course officials said the lightning strike actually blew a huge gash into the ground, none of the trees were zapped, etc. Just the bag, the old man & the ground.

 

[ManchesterGolfer]

I seem to remember somebody telling how Retief Goosen got hit by lightening on the course as a junior golfer. He's got some balls I wouldn't play anywhere near a potential Thunder storm after that, which would rule out Augusta pretty much every year.

 

[Fourputt]

I seem to remember somebody telling how Retief Goosen got hit by lightening on the course as a junior golfer. He's got some balls I wouldn't play anywhere near a potential Thunder storm after that, which would rule out Augusta pretty much every year.

My home course has ion dispersers on all the rain shelters (which bleed off the electrical charge in the ground), which theoretically make them an unlikely target for a strike. I would have to assume that any course with the resources of Augusta would be well equipped to handle lightning. Colorado has one of the highest incidence of lightning strikes in the US, and we take electrical storms very seriously.

 

[Rockford35]

Colorado is 10th on the list of states with injuries resulting from lightning strikes. Florida is 5 times that of CO. Just an FYI more than anything.

Here's a cool map showing strike densities throughout the world on average. Central Africa must just be nuts. Some reading I was doing was stating 36 strikes per square kilometer. That's basically 1000 yards by 1000 yards. Insane.

R35

 

[Eracer]

Very cool chart there, Rock. The birthplace of man has the highest density of lightning strikes. Coincidence? Hand of God? Hmmm....

 

[Fourputt]

Colorado is 10th on the list of states with injuries resulting from lightning strikes. Florida is 5 times that of CO. Just an FYI more than anything.

Here's a cool map showing strike densities throughout the world on average. Central Africa must just be nuts. Some reading I was doing was stating 36 strikes per square kilometer. That's basically 1000 yards by 1000 yards. Insane.

R35

All I was talking about was strikes, not injuries. Most of Colorado's strikes happen in the mountains and plains where the population density is quite low. We literally have thunderstorms daily throughout the summer. The mountains serve as a storm incubator even when there is no weather front passing through to stir things up. Then too, unlike Florida, we actually have hills, so the strikes tend to hit the higher ground. Smart people keep to the low ground and away from trees during storms, so the lightning from those storms just doesn't find as many targets to hit as it does in Florida. :laugh:

 

[Eracer]

All I was talking about was strikes, not injuries. Most of Colorado's strikes happen in the mountains and plains where the population density is quite low. We literally have thunderstorms daily throughout the summer. The mountains serve as a storm incubator even when there is no weather front passing through to stir things up. Then too, unlike Florida, we actually have hills, so the strikes tend to hit the higher ground. Smart people keep to the low ground and away from trees during storms, so the lightning from those storms just doesn't find as many targets to hit as it does in Florida. :laugh:

Not that I'm proud of it...:laugh: I'm just a bit of a stickler for statistical accuracy. From the NOAA lightning site. Note that Florida has three times as many strikes per year on average than Colorado, but Texas is #1 in overall total. Florida is still the lightning capital of the US if you factor in strikes per square mile. Poor Colorado doesn't come close.

Still and all, we are at far greater risk of death every time we hop in our car and travel the roadways.

Florida: 1,507,277 / 65,755 sq. mi. = 22.92 strikes per sq. mi. per year.

Texas: 2,875,027 / 268,581 sq. mi. = 10.70 strikes per sq. mi. per year.

Colorado: 517,267 / 104,094 sq. mi. = 4.97 strikes per sq. mi. per year.

 

[Rockford35]

Not that I'm proud of it...:laugh: I'm just a bit of a stickler for statistical accuracy. From the NOAA lightning site. Note that Florida has three times as many strikes per year on average than Colorado, but Texas is #1 in overall total. Florida is still the lightning capital of the US if you factor in strikes per square mile. Poor Colorado doesn't come close.

Still and all, we are at far greater risk of death every time we hop in our car and travel the roadways.

Florida: 1,507,277 / 65,755 sq. mi. = 22.92 strikes per sq. mi. per year.

Texas: 2,875,027 / 268,581 sq. mi. = 10.70 strikes per sq. mi. per year.

Colorado: 517,267 / 104,094 sq. mi. = 4.97 strikes per sq. mi. per year.

If you look at the colour chart above, it's pretty safe to say that Florida dwarfs everywhere else in the US by a landslide.

I showed this chart to the wife, she's heading to the white area in Africa in November....:laugh:

R35

 

[Eracer]

If you look at the colour chart above, it's pretty safe to say that Florida dwarfs everywhere else in the US by a landslide.

I showed this chart to the wife, she's heading to the white area in Africa in November....:laugh:

R35

That would be what, South Africa? (couldn't resist...)

 

[Fourputt]

If you look at the colour chart above, it's pretty safe to say that Florida dwarfs everywhere else in the US by a landslide.

I showed this chart to the wife, she's heading to the white area in Africa in November....:laugh:

R35

Florida has a higher incidence of strikes, but they also have a much longer season that is favorable for storms. The map is fairly clear that the incidence drops off drastically as you move into the colder climes. I will temper my comments about Colorado only in that we actually have winter for half the year, and it's very rare (although I have seen it) to have a thunder snowstorm. That list might change if it is weighed against the length of the storm season for the different regions.

However, it's really not a ranking that is advertised by the tourism bureau of any community...:laugh: