Lightning Strikes Kill 38 People In India, Including 11 Selfie-Takers, In Just 24 Hours

[Judi Lynn]

Tom Hale
By Tom Hale
12 JUL 2021, 17:25

Lightning has killed at least 38 people in India over the past weekend, the Associated Press reports. While the Indian summer has never been a stranger to lightning strikes, these kinds of devastating lightning events have become increasingly more common over the past few decades thanks to climate change.

A senior police officer said 11 of those killed were people "taking selfies" during the thunderstorm near a watchtower at Amber Fort, a famous historical fort in the western state of Rajasthan. At least nine more people were killed and nearly 20 others were injured in separate lightning strikes across the state of Rajasthan. A further 18 people were killed by lightning on Sunday in the northern state of Uttar Pradesh, most of whom are reported to have been working on a farm at the time.

The summer monsoon season in India runs from June to September each year, characterized by heavy rainfall and humidity. When humidity levels increase and the ground surface temperature is high it creates the ideal conditions for thunder clouds, such as Cumulonimbus clouds.

More:
https://www.iflscience.com/environment/lightning-strikes-kill-38-people-in-india-including-11-selfietakers-in-just-24-hours/

When Earth’s surface is hot, it heats the air and creates an updraft of warm air to rise. As the air rises through the atmosphere, it cools and forms a cloud. Eventually, it can form an ice-cold cloud, where temperatures are below freezing and the water vapor turns into ice. With warm air continuing to push up from below, this causes tiny ice crystals to rub against each other, building up an electrical charge across the cloud: a negative charge forms at the bottom of the cloud and a positive charge near the top. When the positive and negative charges grow large enough, a rapid discharge of electricity will be released and attracted towards the Earth or other clouds.

[at140]

1. I always ran for shelter playing golf as soon as heard thunder

And I have played lot of golf. Every weekend 2 rounds in Chicago burbs on public courses,
And 5 rounds of 18 every week in Vancouver, WA on private courses.
I have seen my share of thunder & lightening. It is nothing to fool with.
My wife was a nurse and treated some pro-golfers struck by lightening in Chicago area back in the 1970's.

[exboyfil]

2. My old collie mix was a marvel at avoiding this

He was always up for a walk, but he knew somehow when we were going to get thunderstorms so he would either refuse to walk or head for home.

So much smarter than me.