Do you spend a lot of time outside this time of year? It could be working on a tractor, feeding cattle, golfing, or out on the water. If so, you should also be weather-aware and be prepared to find a safe place to get away from severe weather, high winds, lightning, and hail. Here are a number of recent articles that discuss what you should and should not do to protect yourself from lightning strikes. I was surprised to note that the crouch position that some articles recommend to help protect yourself from lightning is no longer recommended by the National Weather Service, so don’t count on that to save you from getting hit.
Outside: Everything You Know About Lightning Safety in the Backcountry Is Wrong
Weather.gov: The National Weather Service (NWS) stopped recommending the crouch in 2008
Many weather apps provide some information about current lightning, but if you don’t have one that does that, you can use https://www.lightningmaps.org/ to view current lightning strikes. Keep in mind that in rapidly developing storms, lightning may suddenly occur where it was not previously striking, but at least this will give you a sense of how close lightning is. Lightning can also be a sign of severe weather, so if you see a lot of lightning in a small area occurring quickly, that is a sign that severe weather is developing or occurring there.
