Autumn Lightning Safety

Two young men were on a Colorado hunting trip and were killed by lightning on September 11.

The story is here. Note that sheltering under a tree -- tragically in this case -- is a dangerous thing to do during lightning. As they were in the wild, getting into a relatively low area would have been better. For those of us in non-wilderness areas, any building or automobile (with the top up) is adequate protection. 

Currently, there is a large blob of unusually warm water in the North Pacific (this is not El Nino, which is in the South Pacific) which will cause unseasonal weather patterns such as thunderstorms in the high Rockies when snow would ordinarily be expected. As many associate autumn with quiet weather, it is more important than usual to check the weather before outdoor activities. Make sure you have an app like AccuWeather's -- which will let you know when lightning is within about 25 miles -- on your smartphone. This is in addition to its national radar data. 

Please note: the story says the coroner, who says the deaths were instant, could not determine the time of death. If that is important, that determination could be made by obtaining data from the National Lightning Detection Network (or one of several similar networks) which will depict the bolt in question and its exact time of occurrence. 

May they rest in peace.