NSSL promotes improvements in lightning education by Ron Holle, Raul Lopez, and Susan Cobb Photo courtesy of Frankie Lucena who was photographing Jupiter from the south coast of Puerto Rico. Jupiter is the white dot on the right edge of the picture. L ightning is the most dangerous and frequently encountered weather hazard that most people experience each year. It also occurs every day in the summer and on all but a few days during the rest of the year.
Lightning is a single-victim event.
Watches, warnings, statements, and advisories for weather hazards ranging from thunderstorms to blizzards are issued to the public by the NWS through the media. Since lightning is so widespread and so frequent, it would not be possible to issue lightning warnings for every flash for each person. The responsibility of lightning safety must be shouldered by each individual. Stories of surviving close lightning strikes, which are well publicized in the media, have lead to a wide public misperception of the risk of death from lightning exposure. These misperceptions lead one to take risks based on casual attitudes towards lightning.