Kocet's Corner

Lightning is dangerous, period! It can maim or kill a person with ease. Shownare the top 10 states for lightning fatalities. I was not shocked (pardon thepun) to see Florida as number one, but Michigan, Pennsylvania and New Yorkbeing three, four and five surprised me somewhat. This probably has to do withthe number of people spending time out of doors during the thunderstormseason.Be forewarned that a large percentage of lightning deaths occur when no rain isfalling. That's because people fail to realize the danger and don't head forcover until the rain actually starts to fall. Also, there are those will stayout with an umbrella in hand. Well folks, if you are going to do that, youmight as well be holding a lightning rod. Simply, a bad idea.

If you are indoors, you are pretty safe, but stay away from open widows, and itis probably not a good idea to be taking a bath either.

A car is also reasonably safe, but not for the reason you might think. Therubber tires of the car offer no protection. Rather it's the metal frame ofthe car acting as a lightning rod which prevents the discharge from reachingyour body.

As for any more severe weather, we're in a lull right now, but Thursday andFriday another round of strong and potential damaging thunderstorms can beexpected in parts of the Central states.

Story by AccuWeather.com Senior Meteorologist John Kocet.