Sunday begins Lightning Safety Awareness week across the country which is a push to talk more about the threats lightning poses and raise awareness about how many Americans are killed each year by it. In 2001, the first year of Lightning Safety Awareness week, we were averaging 50 deaths a year from lightning. That number is now less than half, with 2021 seeing a particularly low number!

According to the National Weather Service office in Louisville, "compared to the rest of the United States, Kentucky and Indiana are among the states with the fewest lightning fatalities. The last lightning fatality in Kentucky occurred in 2019. The last lightning fatality in Indiana occurred in 2020. The last lightning fatality in the NWS Louisville County Warning Area was in 2013." They also wrote a really great explanation of how lightning forms! You click the link above to see that and the resources they have put together for Lightning Safety Awareness week. 

I'm sure we have all heard the phrase "when thunder roars, go indoors" to protect yourself from nearby lightning. But being safe around lightning means so much more than that, and it's especially important to think about lightning safety during the summer. That's when we see more people killed than in any other season because it's a time so many people like to be outdoors. Lightning can strike miles away from the storm that produced it, so it's very important to head inside as soon as you see a storm or hear a rumble of thunder. Don't wait until it's right on you to seek shelter. 

There are more great Lightning Safety Awareness Week resources here, and you can follow NWSLouisville on social media or me (Meteorologist Hannah Strong) to see more posts about it this week! To mark Lightning Safety Awareness Week, the National Weather Service will be posting more lightning information like how to be safe indoors and outdoors, common lightning myths, other statistics, and the science of lightning.