Suppose while you are on a high mountain ridge a thundercloud passes overhead. What would be the wisest ...?

Question

thing do to? stand upright? Lie down? Or crouch? and why. Does anybody know?
Thanks.

Answer 1

Head down Bum up!!! that way the charge goes through your bum instead of your brain... and down through your legs into the ground!

Answer 2

I have a friend who did alot of research on this topic. Really it doesn't matter where you are, in a building or on a mountain top, both are susceptible to lightning strikes. The lightning is attracted to like currents and all living things have some electrical properties. This is why you can sometimes see St. Elmo's fire before something is struck. So all i can say is that if you start to glow, find shelter as quickly as possible. However the lightning is faster. You would probably be better served to find ground that will insulate you. That is to say not be conductive. Lightning kills when it passes through to another object, and stay away from water especially salt water.

Answer 3

Crouch down at the lowest point of the ground. (like in a ditch) Stay away from tall objects.

Standing tall is silly. You will act as a lightening rod. Lie flat on ground is also not good. If the lightening is to hit the near-by trees, the electricity that hit the tree will raise the ground potential at the base of the tree, then it will dissipate into the ground around it. If you make lie down, you will have about 6 feet of distance from where your head touches the ground to where your feet touches the ground. It can have enough voltage gradient to kill you.

Crouching down in a ditch or the lowest position possible is the safest choice, although the word "safest" being a relative term here.

The absolute safest thing to do is not to place yourself in such position in the first place. Observe the changing weather and seek shelter ahead of the arrival of such weather. (but that's not what you asked)

Answer 4

Of course the very best thing to do is get off that ridge to lower ground as fast as you can. If it's too late for that, then squat down on the balls of your feet with your hands over your ears. The idea is to present the smallest physical contact with ground as you can, and lying down offers more of a lightning-to-ground path.

Answer 5

find a gully or a very low point. lightning also travels up from the ground and the bolts meet usually in mid space. some of the most spectacular and ominious is sheet lightning above the storm. these discharges can be 500 miles long...at any given time on the planets surface here are around 500 lightning storms.....Zap!!!!...nener,nener...ya missed me!! BTW, these lightning bolts have millions of watts of power. 100,000 volts at 1 amp=100K W. at 0.1A=10KW (toasty huh?)

Answer 6

I climbed a "opposite" mountain--I hiked to the bottom of the Grand Canyon of the Colorado in Arizona, and back out, South Rim to river to South Rim. that's about a million mile deep.