Scariest diving incident -- Lightning!

[OMyMyOHellYes]

No such luxury in Florida. It could downpouring across the street and sunny on the other side. Then the whole thing is over in 10 minutes. It's completely unpredictable.

At least it's a dry heat.

 

[tekkydiver]

In the northeast I have the luxury of choosing days to dive and avoiding storms entirely.

I imagine that's not the case in Florida where T storms are everyday, especially in the summer.

With doppler radar apps from local weather available on the phone, it's not difficult to dodge storms. No sense starting a dive when thunderstorms are approaching. Being on a boat in those conditions makes you a sitting duck, not to mention it can be difficult to impossible to stay close to the divers flag

 

[coldwaterglutton]

With doppler radar apps from local weather available on the phone, it's not difficult to dodge storms. No sense starting a dive when thunderstorms are approaching. Being on a boat in those conditions makes you a sitting duck, not to mention it can be difficult to impossible to stay close to the divers flag

Yes I have run the storms many times (I have a 2x300hp center console, goes up to about 52mph). The bigger issues are (1) divers down = no leaving the site until divers return even if abort is signaled and (2) my regular body of water is the Long Island sound, ranges from 3 miles wide at my end to much more if you head east -- so not a lot of north-south room to run.

 

[The Chairman]

Part of what we're debating/discussing is, what if the captain is recalling divers? Do you skip your safety stop? Does the answer change if you know you're in a lightning storm? I honestly would probably do my safety stop. Is that the right thing?

I've never had a recall during a storm. In Florida, afternoon thunderboomers are pretty common in the summer. It's clear when you splash, but they can develop within 15 minutes. The deluge can be so intense as to create a whiteout effect. The boat can't see you, and you can't see the boat. Then bang, it's over. No rain or lightning. Time to board.

 

[tekkydiver]

I've never had a recall during a storm. In Florida, afternoon thunderboomers are pretty common in the summer. It's clear when you splash, but they can develop within 15 minutes. The deluge can be so intense as to create a whiteout effect. The boat can't see you, and you can't see the boat. Then bang, it's over. No rain or lightning. Time to board.

I've never had a recall during a storm. In Florida, afternoon thunderboomers are pretty common in the summer. It's clear when you splash, but they can develop within 15 minutes. The deluge can be so intense as to create a whiteout effect. The boat can't see you, and you can't see the boat. Then bang, it's over. No rain or lightning. Time to board.

Years ago, you might have a point. But now, in S. FL, a competent captain should NEVER be surprised by a thunderstorm. The captain might allow divers to drop and hope the rain holds off but with radar apps you have a pretty good idea of the intensity and when its coming. Why a Captain would want to be topside during a thunderstorm is beyond me? And in white out conditions... it's just an accident waiting to happen. Diving is fun but it's not worth dying for.

 

[The Chairman]

Why a Captain would want to be topside during a thunderstorm is beyond me?

Do you live in Florida?

 

[Nemrod]

The storms pop up in minutes. One moment it is puffy white clouds and blue sky, the next a T-storm on top of you.

 

[OMyMyOHellYes]

Years ago, you might have a point. But now, in S. FL, a competent captain should NEVER be surprised by a thunderstorm.

Them are popcorn fart thunderstorms.

They are isolated and build in a matter of minutes due simply to afternoon convection and unstable air. Those are not lines that move across an area that can be tracked for miles and miles.

They come out of nowhere and form right on top of you sometimes and can build from nothing to a towering thunderhead in a half an hour. Then they collapse.

I've taken off sometimes into perfectly clear skies, no definitive forecast except for the always present possibility of afternoon convective activity, and returned an hour later where I couldn't land and had to divert and wait a short while before making it back home.

 

[MrChen]

Years ago, you might have a point. But now, in S. FL, a competent captain should NEVER be surprised by a thunderstorm. The captain might allow divers to drop and hope the rain holds off but with radar apps you have a pretty good idea of the intensity and when its coming. Why a Captain would want to be topside during a thunderstorm is beyond me? And in white out conditions... it's just an accident waiting to happen. Diving is fun but it's not worth dying for.

These storms can appear out of nowhere. While divers are under for an hour, a lot can change. It can also be storming a mile south of you and you never see a drop of rain. It's unpredictable. What is predictable is that there might be a storm blow through.

 

[MrChen]

Them are popcorn fart thunderstorms.

They are isolated and build in a matter of minutes due simply to afternoon convection and unstable air. Those are not lines that move across an area that can be tracked for miles and miles.

They come out of nowhere and form right on top of you sometimes and can build from nothing to a towering thunderhead in a half an hour. Then they collapse.

I've taken off sometimes into perfectly clear skies, no definitive forecast except for the always present possibility of afternoon convective activity, and returned an hour later where I couldn't land and had to divert and wait a short while before making it back home.

The video I posted where we surfaced in white out conditions. we originally went north of the PB inlet into the Juno area. When we surfaced, we could see thunderstorms to the west, so we decided to do the second dive south of the inlet. Seas were 0-1 and the sun was shining when we started the dive. Those storms cells move so quickly and like you said, can seem to appear out of nowhere.