There is little you can do to substantially reduce your risk if you are outside in a thunderstorm. The only completely safe action is to get inside a safe building or vehicle. Lightning Risk Reduction When a Safe Location is Nearby You are not safe anywhere outside. Run to a safe building or vehicle when you first hear thunder, see lightning or observe dark threatening clouds developing overhead. Stay inside until 30 minutes after you hear the last clap of thunder. Do not shelter under trees. Plan Ahead! Your best source of up-to-date weather information is a NOAA Weather Radio (NWR). Portable weather radios are handy for outdoor activities. If you don't have NWR, stay up to date via internet, smart phone, radio or TV. If you're in a group, make sure the group has a lightning safety plan and are ready to use it. If you're in a large group, you'll need extra time to get everyone to a safe place. NWS recommends having proven professional lightning detection equipment that will alert your group when lightning is nearing the event site. Coach of Outdoor Sports Team Your little league team has an evening game at the local recreational park. The weather forecast calls for partly cloudy skies, with a chance of thunderstorms by early evening. When you arrive at the park, you notice the only safe buildings are the restrooms. Shortly after sunset, the sky gets cloudy and you see bright flashes in the sky. What should you do? Get everyone into vehicles or the restrooms. Do NOT stay in the dugouts; they are not safe during lightning activity. Once in a safe place, wait 30 minutes after the last rumble of thunder before resuming play. At the Beach/Lake Your family plans to go to the beach today. The weather forecast calls for a nice morning followed by a 30 percent chance of afternoon thunderstorms. When you get to the beach, you see that the only nearby structures are open-sided picnic shelters. The parking lot is a 5 minute walk from the beach. By early afternoon skies are darkening and hear distant thunder. What should you do? Go to your car! Do NOT seek shelter under the beach picnic shelters. Wait 30 minutes until after the last rumble of thunder before going back to the beach. Camping and Other Wilderness Activities You're cooking dinner on the camp stove when you hear distant rumbles of thunder. Your tent and a large open sided picnic shelter are nearby. Your vehicle is about quarter of a mile away parked at the trail head. What should you do? Go to your vehicle! The tent and picnic shelter are NOT a safe places. Wait 30 minutes until after the last rumble of thunder before going back to the campsite. For those who cannot get to a vehicle, here are tips from the National Outdoor Leadership School on what to do in the back country, in a canoe, etc., as a last resort. When a Safe Location is not Nearby Remember, there is NO safe place outside in a thunderstorm. If you absolutely can't get to safety, this section may help you slightly lessen the threat of being struck by lightning while outside. Don't kid yourself--you are NOT safe outside. Know the weather patterns of the area you plan to visit. For example, in mountainous areas, thunderstorms typically develop in the early afternoon, so plan to hike early in the day and be down the mountain by noon. Listen to the weather forecast for the outdoor area you plan to visit. The forecast may be very different from the one near your home. If there is a high chance of thunderstorms, stay inside. 
 
 
 
 These actions may slightly reduce your risk of being struck by lightning: Avoid open fields, the top of a hill or a ridge top. 
 
 Stay away from tall, isolated trees or other tall objects. If you are in a forest, stay near a lower stand of trees. 
 
 If you are camping in an open area, set up camp in a valley, ravine or other low area. Remember, a tent offers NO protection from lighting. 
 
 Stay away from water, wet items (such as ropes) and metal objects (such as fences and poles). Water and metal are excellent conductors of electricity. The current from a lightning flash will easily travel for long distances (See Figure 2 below). Lightning struck the fence, and the electrical current traveled along the fence killing the cows. Photo courtesy Ruth Lyon-Bateman Motorcyclist/Bicyclist : Protect yourself when on a bicycle, motorcycle or dirt bike. Carry a portable NOAA Weather Radio or listen to commercial radio. If you see threatening skies in the distance and you are near a safe building, pull over and wait 30 minutes after the last rumble of thunder before resuming your ride. 
 
 
 
 
 
 : Protect yourself when on a bicycle, motorcycle or dirt bike. Carry a portable NOAA Weather Radio or listen to commercial radio. If you see threatening skies in the distance and you are near a safe building, pull over and wait 30 minutes after the last rumble of thunder before resuming your ride. On the Water : The vast majority of lightning injuries and deaths on boats occur on small boats with NO cabin. It is crucial to listen to weather information when you are boating. If thunderstorms are forecast, do not go out. If you are out and cannot get back to land and safety, drop anchor and get as low as possible. Large boats with cabins, especially those with lightning protection systems properly installed, or metal marine vessels are relatively safe. Remember to stay inside the cabin and away from any metal surfaces. Stay off the radio unless it is an emergency! 
 
 
 
 
 
 : The vast majority of lightning injuries and deaths on boats occur on small boats with NO cabin. It is crucial to listen to weather information when you are boating. If thunderstorms are forecast, do not go out. If you are out and cannot get back to land and safety, drop anchor and get as low as possible. Large boats with cabins, especially those with lightning protection systems properly installed, or metal marine vessels are relatively safe. Remember to stay inside the cabin and away from any metal surfaces. Stay off the radio unless it is an emergency! Scuba Divers : If the boat you are in does not have a cabin you can get into during lightning activity, then you are safer diving deep into the water for the duration of the storm or as long as possible. 
 
 
 
 
 
 : If the boat you are in does not have a cabin you can get into during lightning activity, then you are safer diving deep into the water for the duration of the storm or as long as possible. Cavers: Cave entrances are dangerous during thunderstorms. Small overhangs can allow arcs to cross the gap. Even caves that go well into the ground can be struck, either via the entrance or through the ground. Going well into a cave increases your safety somewhat. Once as deep into the cave as possible, avoid touching metal, standing in water and touching both the cave ceiling and floor. More Information Lightning Risk Managemnet for Backcountry Campers and Hikers 
 
 Lightning and Outdoors Sports 
 
 Lightning Safety on the Job ||||| SAINT JO (CBSDFW.COM) – As a rodeo clown, 31-year-old Casey Wagner has often stared fear in the face, but it was Mother Nature who literally brought him to his knees, after he was struck by lightning — twice. 
 
 Wagner attended a Rednecks with Paychecks event in Saint Jo, Texas, west of Gainesville, Saturday, where hundreds show up to race, off-road and go “mudding” while camping out at huge sites. 
 
 Saturday afternoon, severe weather rolled in bringing heavy rain and lightning. 
 
 Wagner and his two friends were looking for shelter from the storm when they stopped under a tree. Wagner’s friend left in search of a bathroom and Wagner was left there with his friend’s father. 
 
 They were standing about 5 feet away from each other when lightning struck. 
 
 “What I remember is just a loud boom and it dropped me to my knees and then it hit me again,” Wagner said. “When I got hit, it was just two big ol’ flashes and then sparks went everywhere.” 
 
 Wagner said he felt electricity shoot up through his right boot and into his body. 
 
 The electricity swept across his chest, then out his near his left wrist. 
 
 “I had discoloration where it would have popped out,” he said. 
 
 A nurse who was nearby, kept him calm until he was transported by ambulance to Nacona General Hospital a few miles away. 
 
 “At the hospital they said the poncho I was wearing was carrying static because it was one of those plastic ones,” he said. 
 
 Wagner said his heart skipped a beat and doctors ran several tests and monitored his kidneys and heart until his heartbeat was regular again. He initially lost feeling in his lower right leg and at the exit point on his left arm. 
 
 Twenty four hours later he was still shaky and jittery, but miraculously, that was the extent of his injuries. 
 
 “I’ve got all the feeling back. It just feels like my whole body is waking up from… like if your arm falls asleep, that’s how my whole body feels,” he said. Doctors say that tingling feeling will last about a week. 
 
 He says only one thing could have kept him alive. 
 
 “I give everything to God,” he said. “So I owe everything to him, he’s the one that kept me alive. I can tell you one thing, I’m going to start going to church more.” 
 
 Wagner says he plans to return to off-roading and Rednecks with Paychecks, but only when skies are clear. 
 
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– Casey Wagner was at a mudding and off-roading event near Gainesville, Texas, on Saturday when a thunderstorm arrived. The 31-year-old rodeo clown moved under a tree, where he was struck by lightning not once, but twice, CBS Dallas/Fort Worth reports. "What I remember is just a loud boom and it dropped me to my knees and then it hit me again," Wagner says. "It was just two big ol' flashes and then sparks went everywhere." Electricity apparently headed from his right foot across his body to his left wrist; "I had discoloration where it would have popped out." Fortunately, a nurse was nearby, and Wagner was hospitalized—and after losing feeling at the lightning's entry and exit points, he's got it back. "It just feels like my whole body is waking up," he notes. "Like if your arm falls asleep, that’s how my whole body feels." Safety tip from the US government: Never shelter under a tree in a storm.