A kiteboarder in the USA was struck by lightning when preparing to go out last week. This is some of the storm info that has been talked about on the internet. condsidering 'the people are idiots' thread where alot of crew said they were riding storm fronts, thought it would be helpful to those that are not used to severe storms to see more information. I'm not saying don't ride, just passing on info. As the guys in Northern Territory said its one of the few times they can get decent wind. Weather patterns around Oz vary extremely, but here is some general storm info. The 30 second rule at the end is a good one to remember.

A typical thunderstorm is 15 miles in diameter and lasts an average of 30 minutes. All thunderstorms are dangerous. Thunderstorms may include strong winds, lightning, hail, heavy rain, flash floods and flooding, downbursts, and tornadoes.

Weather Service considers a thunderstorm severe if it produces hail at least ¾ inch in diameter, winds of 58 mph or higher, or tornadoes. This is less than 10% of storms.

Thunderstorms frequently occur in the late afternoon and at night. Although they are most likely to happen in the spring and summer months, they can occur year round and at all hours.

Thunderstorm safety tips

If you can hear thunder, go to a sturdy building or car immediately. Do not take shelter in small sheds, under isolated trees, or in convertible automobiles.
If lightning is occurring and a sturdy shelter is not available, get inside a hard-top vehicle and keep the windows up.
Telephone lines and metal pipes can conduct electricity. Unplug appliances not necessary for obtaining weather information. Avoid using the telephone or any electrical appliance. Use phones only in an emergency. Turn off air conditioners. Power surges from lightning can overload compressors, damage electrical appliances, and cause fires.
Do not take a bath or a shower during a thunderstorm.
Get to higher ground if flash flooding or flooding is possible. Once flooding begins, abandon cars and climb to higher ground. Do not attempt to drive through water. (Most flash flood deaths occur in automobiles.)
If you are caught outdoors and no shelter is nearby:
Find a low spot away from trees, fences, and poles. Make sure the place you pick is not subject to flooding.
If you are in the woods, take shelter under shorter trees.
If you feel your skin tingle or your hair stand on end, squat low to the ground on the balls of your feet. Place your hands on your knees with your head between them. Make yourself the smallest target possible, and minimize your contact with the ground.
If you are boating or swimming, get to land and find shelter immediately!
Lightning Kills — Play it Safe

Lightning can be fascinating to watch, but it is also extremely dangerous. During the past 30 years, lightning killed an average of 5-10 people and 100 injured in australia and 67 people per year died in the United States.

During a thunderstorm, each flash of cloud-to-ground lightning is a potential killer. In addition to the visible flash that travels through the air, the current associated with the lightning discharge travels along the ground. Although some victims are struck directly by the main lightning stroke, many victims are struck as the current moves in and along the ground.

Lightning can strike as far as 10 miles away from the rain area in a thunderstorm, but at that distance it may even be difficult to tell a storm is coming. The first stroke of lightning can be just as deadly as the last, so if the sky looks threatening, take shelter before hearing thunder.

Use the 30-30 rule where visibility is good and there is nothing obstructing your view of the thunderstorm. When you see lightning, count the time until you hear thunder. If that time is 30 seconds or less, the thunderstorm is within six miles of you and is dangerous with lightning strikes able to reach you. Seek shelter immediately. The threat of lightning continues for much longer period than most people realize. Wait at least 30 minutes after the last clap of thunder before leaving shelter. Don't be fooled by sunshine or blue sky! There was a guy killed at Newcastle years ago sitting under blue sky, no previous thunder by a single dark cloud so it can be unpredictable.

Straight-line winds: Straight-line winds are responsible for most thunderstorm wind damage. Winds can exceed 100 mph. One type of straight-line wind is the downburst.
Downbursts: A downburst is an area of rapidly descending air beneath a thunderstorm. The strong winds usually approach from one direction and may be known as “straight-line” winds. They can, in extreme cases, cause damage equivalent to a strong tornado causing significant damage to some buildings. A downburst greater in size than 2.5 miles is called a macroburst. A downburst smaller than 2.5 miles is called a microburst. Microbursts may be wet or dry.
Wind changes. More often than not a wind change can accompany a thunderstorm. Whilst running out to sea may be the safest option if the wind increases from the same direction, be prepared for winds to turn offshore. Know how to water pack up and your limits.
Checks. Look at wind readings where storm has passed to see any spikes, radar images for hail. Know locally what fronts and storms look like. Recognise your limits. This probably comes from a bad experience. I've been fully depowered and tea bagging, hardy able to get my board in the water to hold an edge. Luckily I had an out. Thankfully kites and safety systems have improved since then and I use smaller kites. The guys that probably sound like safety police, like me have been caught out or seen someone hurt. Any other good weather info tack it on.

I was out kiting in rain. When I did a jump, my foot would have a spasm just as my board left the water. It got bigger after a couple, like my whole left side would spasm. I didn't realise what it was until there was a clap of thunder directly above me. Scary ****.

There wasn't any thunderstorms forecast that day and I can't tell the difference between electrical and non-electrical rain clouds.

Puetz said...

7tim said...
I was out kiting in rain. When I did a jump, my foot would have a spasm just as my board left the water. It got bigger after a couple, like my whole left side would spasm. I didn't realise what it was until there was a clap of thunder directly above me. Scary ****.

There wasn't any thunderstorms forecast that day and I can't tell the difference between electrical and non-electrical rain clouds.

... I've had similar but it was when I landed jumps that my hand would spasm from what felt like sharp needles shoved in the end of my fingers. Infact one time my hand jolted off the bar just as I was trying to redirect kite from a jump to get myself away from rocks causing me to skid sideways and nearly crash into rocks. I went in then.

Scary sh!t indeed!

cheers,

Robbie

This is common on boats, it's just the static build up of dry air against the nylon of your kite, not imminent death...

That was a really awesome vid! Loved it!

I was out kiting a couple of years back, sunny day when a black cloud came from seemingly nowhere. all of a sudden there was one of those ear shattering claps of thunder and almost instantly as my board left the water(small pop) i felt a jolt to my left arm(like a punch). It scared the bejesus out of me. You have never seen a kiter get of the water and land a kite so quick. I had a sore arm for several days after that. I think It was just a static discharge but very scary none the less.

blueseas said...
That was a really awesome vid! Loved it!

bobajob said...
+1
Is that the crocs eye view?

... thanks guys, just a bunch of normal guys and girls having fun!

Plummet said...

bennie said...
It scared the bejesus out of me.

did you find your bejesus afterwards? or have you lost it forever?

... not easy to find once you lost your bejesus, sometimes depends on how you lost it!!!

i am glad i am not alone in this, my friends thought i was crazy or something. early autumn and first signs of thunderstorm at the far distance, maybe 8-10Km away, i could see and hear lightnings but above where i was kiting it was clear. the storm was closing in but what happened to me i ll never forget, last season i ended up kiting under hailstorm before conditions got even worse and i didnt even know that electric charge can pass through riders.

at first i thought my wrist twisted funny when i left the water surface for a front. but then i noticed it happened again, and this time both my wrist (one hand holding the bar) and my ankle (closer to the water surface), and then a third time more intense, i could hear a snap every time i left the water surface (a sound like; clap with fingers) that was enough to get me out and pack in seconds.

i thought it had to be an electric discharge flowing from air-kite-lines-bar-body-water. never occurred while riding, only when leaving the water surface. on my way out a fellow kiter was about to go in when i told him this he started laughing, i told him it wasnt funny and my face expression could say the same thing. for some reason he didn't go in.

what was so different this time, during winter season we kite every time there and sometimes the sky is all grey about to rain or thunderstorm, we even kite under light rain, but i never felt that jolt ever. how can i know when its safe and when not?

p.s after reading the first post i know when its not safe, thnx, "never kite under/close to any grey lightning clouds. ever"