Lightning and Tents

[MotherRunner]

So...what do we do if it's lightning at night?? Never happened while we camped? Run to a comfort station? Sleep in the car?? Why didn't I think of this prior to 6 days before our trip?

 

[PaHunter]

Refrain from holding a large copper rod above your head..... Seen people head for comfort stations, their cars, or just stay in their tents, depending on how bad the rain was.

 

[Teamubr]

I've tent camped in many storms. We never worried about it. The wind was always the worst thing. Rain made for good sleeping. Lightening and thunder just put on a good show.

j

 

[DisneyMommyMichelle]

Refrain from holding a large copper rod above your head

 

[MotherRunner]

Well darn. The copper rod was alreqdy strapped to my car..guess I have to remove that now... lol

We have done severe rain and wind. Guess just hang in there. That makes me feel better.

 

[FortForever]

You are not safe in a tent during lightning. Absolutely get your family inside your vehicle or the bathhouse.

We tent camped through a violent storm up north, when my kids were little, before I knew better. Having since done some research, never would I take that risk again.

Sorry to be the bearer of bad news, but I could not live with myself if I didn't put it out there. Florida lightning is nothing to play with. Please don't take chances.

 

[peg110]

So this is really a tough question. The previous posts lean on both sides. Me personally, I love sleeping in a tent (mind you it's always been a smaller "Pup Tent" style) during a rain storm. I love the patter on the tent of the rain drops, and the lightening show is always nice. (I just keep thinking of Eddie Rabbit singing "I love a rainy night"). Anyway..... The likelihood of getting struck is small, but not impossible. Typically, particularly at a campground, your tent would NOT be the "High" point and would not likely get struck. The bigger concern would be if a strike was nearby and was strong enough to make it "Through" the object it struck, to the ground, through the ground and to your tent where you might be lying on the ground (again, think "Pup Tent").

• Buildings generally provide some protection because they are grounded and generally considered "Isolated" from the electrical charge that may hit.
• Vehicles are similarly isolated in that they sit on Rubber tires.
• RV's are generally okay too because electricity would generally go "Around" the skin of the RV (and the electrical connections should also be grounded).

Depending on your "Tent" situation, you may be okay. If you are sleeping/lying on an "air mattress" for example, you would be isolated from any strikes (well other than a direct strike which is highly unlikely in a crowded campground). If however you are sleeping on a cot with metal legs, or you are sleeping on a sleeping mat on the ground, maybe not so much protection there.

So unless the strike is CLOSE and/or real strong and you are not isolated (even sneakers can provide protection while standing), you will probably be okay. If it's a bad storm with lots of heavy lightening, obviously you'd want to seek better shelter (Car, CS, etc..). That said, those types of storms tend to be more violent anyway (lots of rain.... lots of wind... which means possibly debris flying too). For most rain storms with a little (distant) lightening, me personally, I wouldn't worry.

Just a side note.... Many years ago when I was at Army Basic Training in Alabama in the summer, we were in an "OPEN" field doing some training. A rain storm moved in and it got bad. Lightening was horrible. (Tends to be in that area too apparently). They made us get into the "Lightening Dispersal Formation" which was basically all of us sitting on the ground (with our poncho on) with about 10 feet between us, and lean forward with our hands/arms on our knees. In that way we were a "Low Profile" so that if lightening were to hit in the area, we were lower then the few scant trees. It rained so hard that I literally had a stream of water running under my legs as I sat there. Fortunately... No lightening struck us.

 

[Kidatheart2010]

With all the pine trees at the fort being so close to the campsites I wouldn't recommend staying in your tent. Pine trees have very large root systems. they run under the sand on the dirt parts of the sites. Any strike near your site could radiate for quite a distance. Get in your car or the comfort station / bath house. Peg is right about the air mattress. anything to break the path to you. Peg remember.... It never rained in the Amy. It rained on the Army. 23 years of living in it. I prefer the way we camp now.


14 days 1 hour and 54 minutes till the Fort.......................

 

[MotherRunner]

Ok. @Peg I'm sure my husband knows that formation.

I think we would throw an air mattress in the back of the van and sleep in there. Anyone ever throw a air mattress in the comfort station and sleep there?! Lol

 

[TheRustyScupper]

1) Take your golf clubs with you.
2) During lightning storm, hold up a 1-iron in the air.
3) Per Lee Trevino, "Even God can't hit a 1-iron".

 

[phillymummer]

Honestly, I am always more worried about a tree branch falling on me rather than getting struck by lighting. A few years ago, in a state park in NJ, a man and his two nephews were killed when a huge tree branch fell on their tent during a wicked thunder storm. I don't know if the branch was struck by lighting and fell off or if the wind took it down, but either way that is always my concern. I would get in your car if either lighting or the wind gets bad.

 

[FortForever]

Here is a link to what NOAA says about lightning safety and tents.

Here is a quote:

"You're cooking dinner on the camp stove when you hear distant rumbles of thunder. Your tent and a large open sided picnic shelter are nearby. Your vehicle is about quarter of a mile away parked at the trail head. What should you do? Go to your vehicle! The tent and picnic shelter are NOT safe places. Wait 30 minutes until after the last rumble of thunder before going back to the campsite."

For plenty more information, just Google "lightning safety tent" and see what comes up.

Lightning here in FL is much different from lightning up north. It doesn't shoot across the sky like I have seen my whole life. It's vertical here, shooting directly towards the ground. I can, and does, strike all over the place. I've lived here just over 9 years and have seen over a dozen trees struck just on our short, rural road, in that time. We have had trees on our own property struck several times.

People can say whatever they want, but I've seen it first hand enough to know it's not something to fool with. The chances of lightning at all, from now onward in the year, are light. It's mostly spring and summer. But, if it does happen, please don't take chances with your family.

Yes, there are plenty of other things to be worried about - tree limbs, snakes, etc. But, you can't control everything and it would be silly to stay locked in your house for fear of what "could" happen. Even so, that doesn't mean you should take chances with things you can control. I'm not an overly paranoid person, just trying to express what I have seen first hand with lightning here in FL. We are regular tent campers all year long. We don't skip life over it. But when there is lightning, I do make my family stay in our van until it passes. And the one good thing about lightning in FL is that it does pass very quickly.

Anyone ever throw a air mattress in the comfort station and sleep there?! Lol

Absolutely! That is actually a very smart thing to do if the lightning is lasting for more than our usual 10 -15 minutes. I have seen it multiple times in multiple states. Once, the bath house at a state park looked like an emergency shelter as there were so many people in there with their air mattresses and blankets. There were tornado warnings so most of the tent campers took up residence.

 

[CatPack]

My undergrad was in meteorology. Tents are definitely not a safe place to be during a thunderstorm. As pp have mentioned, a vehicle is safer than a tent or open space during a typical thunderstorm. A solid, site built structure is safest.

Now, severe thunderstorms that have wind in excess of 60 mph, you definitely want a to be inside a site built structure. Straigh line winds can and do cause just as much damage as a small tornado.

If I were staying in one of the cabins (which I believe are trailers?) I would seek alternate shelter during a severe thunderstorm warning.

Always better to err on the side of caution IMO.