When I was young, my parents told me never to run when there's a thunderstorm, because running increases one's chances of being struck by lightning. I know that standing out in the open makes you an easy target for lightning... but what about running? Did me or my parents misunderstand physics back then, or get this out of some superstition? Or does changing your velocity, or having a velocity in relationship to the clouds, make you more likely to be hit by lightning than standing still?

That seems like superstition.

Maybe they extrapolated from the claim that you will get wetter if you run in the rain (which is true ... sort of).

I don't think a person on the ground would have much influence on where lightning struck. The event would have to already be close enough to you for the shorter air gap between you and the ground to be attractive.

 

Running would seem to have equal chances of moving you away and towards a lightning event. It's possible running could reduce your height by a bit, but lightning is only attracted to the tallest object if it provides an easier path. A 2 meter tall person would have to be within 2 meters of the stroke to affect it. If there was a 10 meter tall tree, but it was 15 meters away from the person, the stroke may still prefer the person.

 

As I understand it, the lightning stroke starts high up, but the actual place struck is determined only as the stroke gets closer to the ground. The stroke isn't "targeting" anything before it's discharged.

Or it could be that if you're running, then you are upright and in somewhat open area, two things that increase your risk. The statement may be correct, but not because of the mechanism that is implied.

And if you are running, you are probably running towards shelter. And that shelter, being large, is more likely to be hit.

 

The best strategy might be to lie flat on the ground (and sob quietly).

My understanding is that lying flat on the ground is a bad idea, as a close strike on the ground will more easily be conducted through the wet earth into your body. Better to squat (and sob quietly).

My understanding is that lying flat on the ground is a bad idea, as a close strike on the ground will more easily be conducted through the wet earth into your body. Better to squat (and sob quietly).

 

Someone once told me, if you don't have a car nearby, it's best to find a ditch and lie flat in it so you're the lowest point in the area. My response to him was similar to yours. If you're worried about lightning, it's most likely raining, filling up ditches with water, increasing the likelihood your sobbing will stop shockingly quickly.

I don't think it matters one way or another, airplanes are struck both in the air and on the ground...

Thanks, this explains it. The idea was probably superstition, or based on the thought that if you're running you're likely traveling through an open area.

 

I'd have otherwise assumed that laying flat on the ground decreases chances of being hit by lightning, because you're not as tall and therefore deferred. But yeah, you're also making more contact with the ground then. Good to know this as well.

The only thing you can really do in a thunderstorm is take shelter. Lying down or squatting really isn't going to do much of anything. If the lightning is coming down close enough that the difference in your height between standing up and lying flat matters, you're probably going to get zapped through the ground anyway.