![]() Do not hide under a picnic table, a tree, a tent, a portable restroom, etc. Buildings and non-convertible vehicles are the only safe places from lightning.Lightning can strike up to 10 miles ahead of a thunder storm and it typically happens in areas where it’s not raining. If you’re outside when a storm hits, seek shelter as soon as you start hearing thunder.Pay attention to the weather forecast and plan ahead so the you’re in a safe area.If you live in a part of the country where lightning storms are prevalent during the spring and summer months, then here are some additional tips for staying safe: While a car is a good place for shelter during a lightning storm, being inside a sturdy building is even better. Is It Illegal to Stick Your Head out of a Car Window or Sunroof? If you would like a demonstration, check out this video from Top Gear: But the real science of it is that the car’s metal cage, or structure, redirects the energy from the lightning strike around the vehicle’s occupants and safely into the ground. Of course, that might not make sense at first, considering metal is a good conductor of electricity. In reality, it’s the car’s metal cage that protects the occupants, not the tires. According to NBC 12, a lightning bolt is so powerful that it could actually go through the tires and melt them. The thought here is that since the tires are made of rubber, the entire car is grounded so the occupants are protected. It’s a common misconception that a car’s tires are what protect its occupants when it’s struck by lightning. | Getty Images A car is a safe place to be during a lightning storm, but not because of the tires Sonoran Desert rainstorm, a summer monsoon thunderstorm with cloud-to-ground lightning strikes and light trails from cars on the roadway. In that case, you’ll need to find shelter, and believe it or not, your car is a good place to be. But that doesn’t mean that you should run around in a wet open field during a lightning storm. According to the CDC, the odds of getting struck by lightning in a given year is one and 500,000. You might think that you have a better chance of winning the lottery than getting struck by lightning, but you would be wrong.
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