How to stay safe during bad weather

The timing couldn’t have been more perfect last Saturday for the year’s first severe thunderstorms to move through the area. I say perfect timing, because May 6 through 13 was Severe Weather Awareness Week. I’m guessing, however, that many folks got through the week quite “unaware” of its designation and perhaps missed some of the helpful severe weather information that was put out by the National Weather Service.

May and June are the most active months for severe weather in the Panhandle. Here are some tips for how to stay safe should you find yourself in the middle of threatening weather.

Last week’s storms brought some gusty winds, although, luckily, there were no reports of damage. Even though tornadoes are rare across the Panhandle, strong straight-line thunderstorm winds do occur with more frequency and can be quite damaging. A severe thunderstorm can produce wind gusts of at least 58 mph.

What may catch more people off guard, however, are damaging winds that may occur ahead of an approaching storm. Such a “gust front” was responsible for producing the record-breaking 77 mph wind at the Spokane International Airport in June 2005, causing significant damage including downed trees and power lines. Twenty-eight thousand people lost power across Eastern Washington and North Idaho, with Post Falls being the most heavily affected. Brush fires became a danger as well, and a neighborhood in Liberty Lake almost had to be evacuated as fire threatened homes.

The National Weather Service will issue a severe thunderstorm warning, for dangerous wind gusts of 58 mph or greater occurring within or ahead of an approaching storm. During dangerous wind events, including tornadoes, the safest place to be is in a basement. If you don’t have a basement, choose an interior room away from windows.

To be classified as a severe thunderstorm, the storm must produce wind gusts of 58 mph or greater, a tornado, or hail greater than three-quarters of an inch in diameter (roughly the size of a penny).

When there’s lightning, however, all storms, severe or not, pose an equally dangerous hazard. Nationally, about 400 people each year are struck by lightning while outdoors, and an average of 67 die. Though you may not actually see the lightning in a storm, if you can hear thunder, you are close enough to be struck. And while it is possible to survive a lightning strike, you definitely don’t want to take your chances against 300 million volts of electricity (with an average current of 30,000 amps) or a temperature of 50,000 degrees Fahrenheit. I often tell schoolchildren, if the lightning bolt doesn’t stop your heart, you could still get burnt to a crisp!

The safest place during a lightning storm is indoors. Air is not a good conductor of electricity. If a better path for the lightning bolt presents itself – such as a tall metal object, a tree, or even a person, that object might just become the preferred route for the current to reach the ground.

You are safe from lightning while in your vehicle, because if it was struck, the electricity would flow through the outside metal frame of your car into the ground (it is not because of the rubber tires, as some might believe). On the other hand, you should avoid corded phones or showers during lighting, as phone lines and/or metal pipes can provide an easy path for lightning if it strikes your house.