That’s not unexpected
Are you new to the area? That’s pretty standard summer t-storm behavior. Things can turn ugly really fast.
What’s scary is that there have been instances in which lightning strikes out of a completely blue, cloudless sky. No warning whatsoever. Someone recently died of this, and I remembered having read a warning in “Death in Yellowstone” about such oddities.
My scenario
A few weeks ago I found myself the middle of a 5 mile crossing when a thunderstorm rolled in. I saw light rain coming behind me when I left the shore, but no thunder and lightning at the time. Even if I had stayed put I was at least 10 miles from civilization on a low marshy island with no trees or brush.
In the end I flagged down a passing boater (the first I had seen in hours) and got on board for a ride to shore with my boat in tow. The lightning passed fairly quickly, but I was very nervous for a few minutes.
If I hadn’t had the option for a ride what was the best course of action?
Lightning goes hundreds of feet in air
I don’t think 2" of knee compressed PFD are going to slow it down any appreciable amount. Your knees will feel good though!
Not worry excessively, because in a
thunderstorm you may have wind and wave issues to deal with, while your chances of being struck by lightning are low. It just isn’t happening that often.
Another reason to canoe
On the James River last summer, Bluemerle, LB and I were bushwacked by lightning storms. But it’s like you say, your choice is stay on the river or go “hide” in the trees.
Fortunately, we were in canoes, which allowed us to stand and shake our fists at the clouds in defiance. We continued down the river unscathed, so I guess that was effective. But since you can’t stand in kayaks, this technique won’t work for you. So, a first recommendation for you is to become a canoeist.
But I do kayak some, too. I’m with JackL. Take cover if it is available, otherwise, paddle on. The reality is, you are a very small spot on a very large target, and the odds are in your favor. That’s the rational brain talking. On the water, when the lightning is flying all around, I feel like a radio tower on a mountaintop, and I’m convinced I’m gonna die!
But, OTOH, if you look around, there is a lot of stuff out in the water that is bigger than a kayaker and has been out there for years. Pilings. Duck blinds. Trees. Boat wrecks. Stuff. We may not see the objects that got hit and incinerated by lightning, but there is still a lot of stuff that makes it through the storm. Chances are, you will, too.
BTW, I do agree with the conservative advice offered by OPs. But, like JackL pointed out, sometimes you are just stuck.
~~Chip
If you’re worried about being the talles
t thing around, put a sail on your kayak or canoe. HAH, that’ll fix the problem (NOT!).
Canoes present their own hazards
Several years ago a friend and her husband were canoeing near Cedar Key when they got caught in a Florida thunderstorm. They took shelter on an island, turned their canoe over and got under it. Nine months later…
odds of being struck
Evidently the odds of being struck by lightening during your lifetime are about 1 in 5000, vs the odds of being killed in a car at 1 in 83.
However, this assumes that you spend little or not time outdoors, on water, on mountain tops, on golf courses in Florida (most strikes per year). And so on and on.
The odds of being struck by placing oneself in situations of higher frequency of strikes nearby and where indirect strikes will get you are different.
Each person decides for themselves what is and is not an acceptable risk. And the actual level of risk may not be what the perceived risk is.
Sometimes we overestimate actual risk and sometimes we vastly underestimate it.
Same as Jack
I’ve been caught way out in some bad ones. Relax and know that death will be quick! A couple of times I’ve been near shore. I stayed 40 to 50 yards from the tree line. I figured the trees were the ‘tallest thing around’ and not me… yet I was far enough from the trees that a hit shouldn’t shock me. Don’t know if my logic is flawless but I ain’t dead.
Cheap canoeists
I think I posted previously this tail. Coming down the ‘Doah with a group of boaters, I was the only one polling, and with an aluminum pole at that. We heard rumbles of thunder and the conversation turned in the same direction as this thread.
I made the group an offer that they could hang around with me, for a price. I explained, I’m standing, your sitting, and I’m waving around this 12’ pole. The lightning will hit me and you will be spared.
One guy agreed to take me up on it, but he wanted to pay with an IOU. Cheap skate canoeists!
BTW, the storm passed us by. Might have had more takers if the lightning started to fly.
~~Chip
Well, I’ve been driving since '58 and
I’ve been out on the water in thunderstorms since '60. Although I’m a very active rower and paddler, I’m sure I’ve been driving more hours.
But it can’t fail to impress me that I’ve had several somewhat serious car accidents. I’ve lost close friends and acquaintances to car accidents. I’ve had some river injuries, including a leg entrapment that could have killed me. I’ve written up death reports for our club newsletter about river deaths of people I knew.
I have known a few people who were “zapped” while sitting out thunderstorms on the river, but they were not harmed. I have heard of one (one) instance of a person who was heavily zapped while sitting in his kayak in the middle of the Hiwassee River.
So, now that I am 66, and leaving aside hard-to-determine things like the extent of exposure to specified risks, I feel VERY highly entitled to say that risk of being struck by lightning while boating is not what the NOAA cracks it up to be. Take precautions when possible, yes, but don’t do something rash while frantically trying to get to safety from a thunderstorm.
Do I have to recount again the true story of the two women who died of hypothermia in a mountain snowstorm, because they were so frightened of the lightning strikes around them that they grabbed their gear and tried to run to base camp? If they had stayed dry in their tents, probably they would not have been struck (no other mountain tenters were) and they would be alive today.
Wow. That shut him up! 
nm
Actually it didn’t. If they actually
teach that stuff in wilderness EMS, they’re wasting curriculum time and misleading people into thinking they know what to do when they don’t.
I might have known it came out of something like a wilderness EMS class, because no one with half a brain would believe it from a TV weatherperson.
Conflicting Lightning Advice
I like to do expedition canoeing such as total river descents and am sometimes on the water for days or weeks on end. Thus,if a storm comes up I am going to be in it. The standard advice of seeking safe shelter immediately is often not an option. I have read everything I could find on lightning safety and the so called expert advice varies so widely that I’m convinced nobody really knows the best course of action for every circumstance. And many of the “experts” contradict each other. The variety of opinions given on this site is an excellent example of the uncertainty. Of course there are some obvious things to avoid, like the tallest trees around, the middle of a large body of water, or standing instead of squating. But lightning storms are often accompanied by high wind and sometimes I elect to stay on the water, fairly near shore rather than get on land because I judge the risk from falling limbs and trees to be greater than the risk of lightning. If waves are such that you risk capsize, then obviously you’d better get ashore. You just have to assess the best option available for the terrain you are in. Lightning is a real hazard and I advise everyone to read everything they can about it. But there are so many different situations that it is unwise to think you can stick to a few fixed rules.
HB
Sorry Celia - Weather Radio no good…
… in that situation. The typical summer thunderstorm, the type that forms quickly and is nothing more than a driving rainstorm with lots of lightning won’t be enough for the the weather service issuing a warning - never seen it happen. On the other hand, something really big, that is moving cross-country will warrant a warning IF it brings very strong winds or the threat of tornadoes (clearly not the situation described by the original poster), but they don’t issue warnings for everyday, garden variety thunderstorms - not here in the midwest anyway.
That’s correct
That might optimistically be like adding another two feet to your distance from the bolt, making no difference to a blast with enough voltage differential to travel a few thousand feet without a conductor. Convential wisdom is to squat low on the balls of your feet, with your feet tightly together to reduce and voltage differential from one foot to the other. With luck, you’ll be like a bird on a power line during a close strike, with with the voltage passing on by harmlessly, rather than through your body.
well said tideplay
overestimating risks might drive one person to be homebound.
Sure we have to take precautions but fretting too much could result in safely “watching the game” on the mighty TV a bit too often
Struck 7 times
– Last Updated: Jul-31-09 9:19 AM EST –
A few years back, there was a guy on TV who was struck 7 times in his life. Lost one toe. The last time he was on vacation in the Rockies and heard it in the distance and got in his car and drove as far away as possible and still got hit. You have to wonder about coincidence or some divine higher plan. If your chances are 1 in 5,000 this guy is helping everyone's odds. Don't kayak with him.
well why don’t you tell us why?
read it yourself
…and while you’re at it, read the OP. If you’re saying she should have stayed off the water because there was a slight chance of rain, you’re being unrealistic.