Re: lightning dangers

[Hugh Haskell <hhaskell@MINDSPRING.COM>]

> From time to time, someone will mention that it's dangerous to take a
> shower during a lightning storm. I'm assuming the idea is lightning could
> strike a tree or the ground nearby just as I put my hand on the tap. This
> doesn't seem like a terribly high risk to me, as I tend to think of
> plumbing pipes as generally being rather well grounded. But let's hear what
> you think. Is this an urban myth? Has anyone heard of any actual cases of
> electrocution this way? Carl
>
> Dr. Carl E. Mungan, Assistant Professor     http://www.uwf.edu/~cmungan/
> Dept. of Physics, University of West Florida, Pensacola, FL   32514-5751
> office: 850-474-2645 (secretary -2267, FAX -3323) email: cmungan@uwf.edu

Interesting question. I have had some of the same doubts myself. I know
that at our community swimming pool, they close the pool anytime there are
thunderstorm activites in the area, and my understanding is that a nearby
lightning strike can create large transient currents which could find their
way into the water in the pool. But it seems a stretch to think that these
transients could also make their way through the plumbing. Maybe they can.

Hugh

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Hugh Haskell

<mailto://haskell@odie.ncssm.edu>
<mailto://hhaskell@mindspring.com>

The box said "Requires Windows 95 or better." So I bought a Macintosh.
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