I wrote about the arrival of spring and the arrival of thunderstorms with their aerial light show we call lightning last week. I mentioned that people sometimes get struck by lightning and the results are not good. According to a paper written by John S. Jensenius, Jr. of the National Lightning Safety Council there were 418 fatalities due to lightning here in the U.S. between 2006 and 2019 with an additional 60 killed between 2020 and 2023.

The greatest death toll for those out recreating was not golfers as you might guess. It was fishermen. I don’t fish and I don’t golf so I looked a little closer. Boating was also dangerous as was playing soccer! Golfing came in last in the list of deaths behind ranching, farming, construction work and mowing the yard. I don’t golf, fish, ranch, or farm but I do spend considerable time mowing!

It probably isn’t surprising that the vast majority of fatalities were men: 79%. This is probably due to the fact that there are more male fishermen, golfers, farmers, ranchers and construction workers than female. Another truth is that men tend to disregard the danger of getting hit by lightning more than women.

It is also not surprising that the age group most affected in males are the 20 – 29 year olds. Strangely in women it’s the 50 – 59 year olds. It also shouldn’t be a surprise that the vast majority of deaths come in July and June followed by August. With Friday, Saturday, and Sunday as the days of the week in which the highest number of deaths are recorded.

Being struck while doing leisure activities were the highest for both men and women. For men the risk of getting killed while working was higher than that for women and the risk of getting killed while working outside around the house was higher for the ladies.

The paper concludes with four basic causes of getting hit by lightning. First is the vulnerability of the activity you are engaged in. Anything out in the open, particularly on water, is a danger during a thunderstorm. Second is the unwillingness to cancel or postpone activities. Number three is not being aware of the approaching storm and #4 is not taking the storm seriously and getting to a safe place in time.

While only 19 people were killed in the U.S. by lightning last year compared to 42,939 killed in car wrecks…you don’t want to be #20. So as much as you might enjoy the sound of the thunder while watching the light show of a spring thunderstorm, don’t be silly. Get off the lake. Get off the course. Get out of the pool. Postpone the soccer game! Take the threat seriously and go inside and have something to drink. The storm will pass and you can get back to doing whatever it was you were doing before it arrived. Be safe!