And there are other misconceptions about thunder, check it out now.
Not as romantic as in the movies, the rain in real life is sometimes very annoying and also accompanied by dangerous thunderstorms.
Even so, it still happens often and we only have to learn more about this phenomenon to protect ourselves. So are you sure you understand thunder in the rain? Be careful, don’t make the 5 “mild confusion ” below.
Not exactly like that. Cars can still be struck by lightning as usual. But when it’s thundering, cars are quite safe because they are covered from all sides.
If lightning strikes, electricity will only travel outside the car’s frame, then follow the wheels to escape to the ground. So, make sure you close all the doors of your car when it rains.
In contrast, with motorbikes or cars without the roof, they also have rubber wheels but do not have a roof, so they will be less safe when moving in thunderstorms.
In English there is an idiom: “Lightning Never Strikes the Same Place Twice”! The literal meaning of the saying is, being struck by lightning is extremely unlucky but very rare, not likely to happen twice.
The Empire State Building is often “hit” by lightning.
However, this is not true in practice. Take for example the Empire State Building of New York state, USA. The “huge” height of 444m (including the antenna) has made this place a favorite target for lightning.
It is estimated that it is struck by lightning about 25-100 times a year, according to different sources. It is known that in just one rainy and windy night in the spring of 2011, the thunderbolt knocked on this building’s door three times.
According to experts, the range of thunder is 5km wider than a thunderstorm. For example, if only District 1, Ho Chi Minh City is having thunderstorms, then neighboring districts like Binh Thanh are still at risk of “sticking” with thunder.
The sky is blue, it is still possible to encounter thunder, if the dark clouds are somewhere quite close.
In addition, there are cases where the location was struck by lightning up to 40km away from the dark cloud. This phenomenon is called “Bolts from the Blue” by American experts.
If the location of the lightning strike is 80km away from the charged cloud, it is called the “Anvil lightning” phenomenon. (“Anvil” means anvil, blacksmiths often use hammers to strike the anvil face to forge iron).
Since lightning can strike outside of rain range, even after a rainstorm, try to stay indoors for an additional 30 minutes once the thunderstorm has passed.
This is only true when you are at an altitude of 30m or more. But of course, walking blatantly in the middle of a storm is dangerous enough, just wearing headphones doesn’t increase that risk any more.
The house with 4 walls and a roof is a good shelter in the rain.
However, you need to stay away from the following items: doors, windows, landline phones, power sources, electrical conductors, water tanks, bathrooms… And also remember to unplug TVs and computers to protect these devices as well.