Safe Depth for a Lightning Strike

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MikeFerrara:
If it was that big of a deal, all the fish would already be dead. LOL
.
While it's obvious that not all the fish have been killed by lighting, are you sure that none have ever been killed by lighting?

The next question you should reasonably ask yourself is; do you intend to live longer then a fish?
 
No, all 3 "hits" came on the same dive during my safety stop.
 
First you see the lightning and then you hear the thunder
which is a good argument to stay down under
It isn't by chance nor is it by blunder
we now call PerroneFord the "Three Hit Wonder"!
thank you..thank you...good night....:D
 
freediver you must have worked on your poetry writing during a safety stop. Well, done.
 
Lots of assumptions and over simplifications going on.

How deep is safe during lightning?

It is NOT SAFE during lightning.

If lightning is striking where you are then you are in danger.
This means that lightning within 5 to 7 miles of where you are too. The strike can go a long way.

If you are in the water and can see the flash you are in danger.
If you are on the surface and can hear the thunder you are in danger.

The only way to be SAFE is to be where the lightning is NOT.

Now for some more practical points.

In SALT water, the lightning is spread out quickly so it doesn't take much depth to make you much safer than on the surface.

In FRESH water the lightning takes odd and unpredictable paths and is very dangerous to great depth. In fresh water you are pretty much always safer OUT OF THE WATER.

There are lots more variables.
Where are you?
Florida has poor conductivity in the ground so everywhere is dangerous unless you have a big, strong building around you with lots of metal in the structure.

What lightning strikes?
They can be from a few thousand amps to more than 100,000 amps.
The really big ones are so powerful we really don't know what it takes to protect against them, except to be elsewhere.

In any case, the worst place to be during lightning is on the surface of the water. Next worst is likely underwater. Best is ashore in a stout building or in a metal ship.

NEVER assume that you can be safe with lightning around.

Remember that even though you survived the strike and feel fine you may have other problems later on from the lightning. See;
http://tigger.uic.edu/labs/lightninginjury/overview.htm
 
Here is the story on the Deerfield beach diver.

South Florida Sun-Sentinel

5:33 PM EDT, July 22, 2007

DEERFIELD BEACH

A 36-year-old man was struck and killed by lightning while diving in the Atlantic Ocean off Deerfield Beach on Sunday afternoon, authorities said.

The incident took place during an afternoon of severe thunderstorms that pelted the region, from Miami to West Palm Beach, with torrential rains, strong winds, pea-sized hail and hundreds of bolts of lightning.

At the time of the strike, at about 3 p.m., two divers were on a 20-foot boat and two were in the water, said Deerfield Beach Fire Division Chief Gary Fernaays.

When one of the divers in the water surfaced, "lighting struck his tank," Fernaays said. "He was approximately 30 feet from the boat at the time."

The man, whose name was not immediately released, went underwater again, as the other three attempted to rescue him. It took about 10 minutes for them to get the victim into the boat, Fernaays said.

During that time, they radioed Deerfield Beach Fire-Rescue for help. They then drove the boat toward shore and beached it in the 600 block of North Ocean Boulevard, Fernaays said.

"Our unit was waiting at the beach," he said. "When we saw the boat coming in, we immediately headed to that location."

The victim, who had gone into cardiac arrest, was given CPR while he was being taken North Broward Medical Center in Pompano Beach, where he was pronounced dead, authorities said.

Lightning also struck and started a roof fire a home in the 3000 block of Green Turtle Place in Margate, according to a preliminary report. Tile were reportedly blown off roof, but no injuries reported.

The reason squally weather hit so hard on Sunday: two line of thunderstorms converged on South Florida from two different directions, said meteorologist Dan Gregoria of the National Weather Service in Miami.

"Storms developed along the Atlantic coast and started to move inland," he said. "Other storms developed out over the Everglades and moved into the metro areas as well."

East-central Broward County was hit hardest, receiving about 2 to 3 inches of rain, Gregoria said. The weather service issued an urban flood advisory, though no serious flooding was reported on Sunday, other than puddles in streets and low-lying areas.

A tornado was initially reported in the 2100 block of Northwest 29th Court Oakland Park but officials couldn't confirm that a twister actually touched down.

Even so, the weather in that area was "really bad," said Richard Tingley, a Broward Sheriff's Office communications operator who lives in that area and was delayed getting to work on Sunday afternoon by the heavy rains.

"There was a lot of rain and wind," he said. "You couldn't even see the car in front of you."

Monday's forecast: a 60 percent chance of more showers and thunderstorms.
 

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