Diving in a rain storm?

[milkathecow]

This happened to us two weeks ago in mallorca.

We left for an OWD Dive 3 and our DM was out with 2 DSD's. Sunny, warm, not a cloud... after 20 minutes it darkened from down under... like dawn in a few seconds.

I was down at 18m and was heading up for a safety stop at 5m, there i saw the rain drops, but nothing else. I told the 2 Students to go up, and there i saw 2 lightning so looked at them and said... Down we go... NOW!.

Down at 4m, the vis was incredible, the sound of rain and the rays of lightning are just incredible. Personally didn't mind it, looked awsome from under, really impressive and actually quite nice.

Crossed my DM who had this kind of strange look of worry on her face (will we get shocked ??) but well, she followed me & students with her 2 DSD's and we were fine.

Got to the sandy patch, stayed there as long as we could with our air supply, then when the rays of lightning seemed to calm down i told the whole team to ascend, close to the DC on the beach, head out, told the guys to get out ASAP, with equipment etc. Got in the dry and a couple more lightning strikes went off like 200-300m away.

Sure isn't a nice thing to be the thunderbolt in the water, therefore just don't surface if you can avoid it... and if you feel that it's going to be close, on a shore dive you might just want to kit off, maybe drop the tank & get it 10 minutes later if the Dive site allows it.

I just love diving in the rain that's one sure thing, it's a great feeling, sometimes it's really **** vis, but sometimes it's out of this world... and that... until you're down there and unless you're down there you'll never know.

 

[mikerault]

If you are surrounded by the charge you cannot be electrocuted, it is only when you form a path to ground that electrocution occurs. You are safer underwater when lightening strikes then in the boat.

Mike

 

[DivingCRNA]

I have dived in Table Rock Lake and Beaver Lake when it was raining and didn't have any problems! Just figured since I was going to be wet anyway, why not just dive in and have some fun!

Yes, lightning is a huge concern, but diving when it is only raining, shouldn't be a big problem. Visibility sucks in these lakes for the most part anyway!

I wouldn't let a small rainstorm - be it in a lake or the ocean - be the cause of an aborted dive.

I have dove Beaver lake and had a thunder storm come up when I was under. I stayed under to not get a lightening strike. Vis was Beaver vis

Also dove in the rain in Cozumel in October, but if you do not dive in the rain in Coz in Oct, you might not dive. Wind and storms are another thing though....

 

[offroaddiver]

Well the whole basis for this thread was the local forecast. I've actually never dove in bad weather...usually because getting there would be so treaturous. In a rainstorm on an incline to a quarry when it's poorly maintained gravels, My cherokee likes goin offroad but doubt goin backwards into the water wouldn't be good. Plus it's not like I have the straps, lift bags and winch needed to get out of there.

Today was supposed to be my first time getting able to get wet again in a while with new gear. So a combination of new gear with bad weather wouldn't of been good. Unfortunately after getting ready for the bad weather, my dive buddy calls me and has to go to little rock, AR for a funeral. Look for a thread in the near future about what superstitions people use for good diving.

 

[Electric guy]

New to diving here - the "Perfect Storm" and there is no activity below surfuce - If you had enough H20 why not ride it out - How many tanks would that be!!!!

From sights - it is so perfectly calm below the surface - at what depth do you notice a storm?

 

[Ed Palma]

Depending on the severity of the rain Usually, you wouldn't notice it at depth, but heavier rainfall (and the attending cloud cover) just screws up visibility - something a good light can fix

 

[Allison Finch]

One of my most memorable dives was about four years ago in Cayman Brac. We were doing a night dive off of a boat. On the way to the site, you could see a huge storm on the horizon with lots of lightning. As we were diving, you could see the light flashes on the bottom. I spent a lot of time with my dive light off using the flashes as illumination. Eerie and beautiful. On the way back, the storm was on our heels with the seas starting to really kick up. One hour after we docked and ate, the eye of tropical storm (Norman, I think) went right over the island tearing it up a bit. The power was out and the sky was lit continuously by the incredible lightning display. It really flooded Grand Cayman. We were totally unaware that the storm even existed. I wonder what the resort knew and when......

 

[TheHobster]

Brings up a memorable dive from a few years ago. In Indiana, wait 10 minutes anbd the weather will change, and thats what happened to us.

My co-instructor and I had 12 students, plus 3 DMs and an AI doing OW #4. He was doing the mask R&R and hovering I was doing and coordinating U/W compass drills. 2 of the students were 13 YO cousins and one of the dads and a co-worker of his was out as well. I see a flash, and get a bit miffed as I had not seen the dad bring a camera and would have told him not to take pics of the girls as they were doing skills. I looked up, and could now see the dimples on the surface from HEAVY rain; then another flash - ohhhhh crap!! thru hand signals we let everyone know to stay on the platform at 22' and the folks doing Nav course to finsh and the DM's and myself to keep them at that level as well -

There was a 50 someting gal in class that was enjoying life after her divorce, and she swims up, moves her hands like a steering wheel, and then rotates her hand all the way over from palm flat facing left, to palm flat facing right - I go, "Huh?" and she repeats, then it hits me - it was sunny when we entered, and she left the top of her Saab convertible down!!!

Meanwhile we stay down at 22 feet, and now we are watching air supply dwindle, and the storm is still raging - we get a few folks to 700 and have to get them out, so we bring everyone so we can move quickly and get under a shelter -

it was soaked on land!! our shade tent is a twisted jumble, her car has 2 inches of water in it, the windows won't close and radio won't come on - I had left side door of my van open and all paperwork is a mess; all dry clothes were not anymore! first time I did a debriefing and "graduation" ceremony at McDonalds!!

 

[runamonk]

A buddy and myself signed up for scuba classes back in January. When we finally got to do our first open water it was pouring outside and there was thunder and lightning. Talk about a little disconcerting. I really wasn't too sure at the time if I really wanted to be out there with a metal tank strapped to my back.

Everything worked out fine. Would I call the dive now in that same kind of weather? Yep. I wouldn't even have made it out of the house.

 

[drbill]

Some of my best dives have been during rainstorms, but I won't dive if lightning is in the area.

I remember one dive when I was trying to see how long my HP120 would last on a fairly shallow dive. I went in and noticed after a while that the light had changed. It actually was quite nice... very even and no highlights. I got some of my best video on that dive. When I finally surfaced after 2 hr 46 min, I was surprised to see the dive park abandoned and my gear blown all the way across the parking lot. Apparently a pretty good rainstorm had kicked up driving everyone else out of the water. They really missed some nice conditions.

Moral of the story: no need to cancel due to rain alone.