MEMPHIS, Tenn. — With the scorching temperatures, it might be hard to believe but, Tuesday is the official start to summer.
During the summer months, we have plenty of thunderstorms and to prepare you for them, the National Weather Service has selected this week as lightning safety awareness week.
Even though heat is the main concern this week, thunderstorms can happen at anytime and if you hear thunder, that means lightning is not far behind.
Maybe you've seen the viral video in July of last year that shows a group of teens enjoying their afternoon at Top Golf in San Antonio when the golf ball was struck by lightning.
Lightning can occur at any time, even when it is not raining.
A lightning strike can happen 10 miles or more away from a thunderstorm.
According to the National Weather Service, 11 people died last year in the United States from lightning strikes and 258 people have died since 2006 from doing various activities such as fishing, golfing or even just doing construction work.
Samantha Brown, a NWS Memphis Meteorologist says, “A great thing to do is if you hear any lightning, make sure you go indoors. All of those outdoor activities kind of cease doing that and go under a tent, go inside a building or something like that and make sure that you wait about 30 minutes before you go back outside.”
We use two different sayings, “If thunder roars go indoors” and “If you see a flash, then you need to dash”.
These are both great ways to protect yourself and your family from the potential of being struck by lightning.
If someone around you is struck by lightning, Call 9-1-1.
Victims will not have an electric charge to them and should be treated immediately.
You might just save their life.