DENVER (KDVR) — If you take bear spray when trekking and you really want to remain safe on your next hike, you’d better understand what to do when it rains because over the previous 50 decades, lightning has killed 37 times greater people than bears in Colorado!
Many people try to find the advantages in the prediction and dismiss the ominous signs in the sky when storm clouds loom, especially when tempted with the lure and valor of having to accept that social websites snap while holding just a small cardboard sign beneath your favourite 14er.
Now and tomorrow you’re from the prediction which means hikers will need to anticipate and plan to descend quickly from regions above timberline by early afternoon to prevent the danger from above. As storm clouds brew and thunder rolls, even if it is not raining (or hailing) in which you are, lightning can strike up to ten miles from a storm! That means if you’re hiking on a sunny Chief Mountain and a storm is beating round the valley around Mount Evans, you could still get struck.
The maximum density of strikes within our region occur across the Palmer Divide and the Foothills, in which storm ingredients come together more commonly than at the High Country or even the far eastern plains, so the take-away here is you don’t need to been trekking a major summit to be in danger. You might just be outside walking your dog at Red Rocks or carting groceries at a parking lot at Castle Rock.
Most frequent cause of weather fatalities by NWS County Warning Area. (Lots of work to perform about the undertaking but I discovered that this ancient look informative and worth sharing as is. Larger version here: https://t.co/MN5Od9NfUd) pic.twitter.com/Id3mXTmUbs
— Ian Livingston (@islivingston) September 17, 2019
Lightning might not be the number one killer in Colorado annually, as avalanches take this title, but it’s killed almost 30 times more people in Colorado compared to tornadoes at a span of 58 years from 1959 to 2017. Hikers routinely get captured over 12,000 feet and, often, find they’re the tallest thing around which puts them at the danger zone.
Memorials are seen on popular trekking destinations around Colorado, helping to remind all that this is an actual and sadly, all too typical threat. One on Mount Princeton is devoted to Catherine Martha Pugin who was discovered in which this plaque lays today.
In 148 lightning deaths, Colorado is ranked #4 supporting Florida, Texas and North Carolina. Your possibility of being struck by lightning here are just 1 in 10,000. That’s greater than your shot at Powerball with a factor of approximately 30,000.
Rules of thumb
If skies turn dark and threatening, then make your departure ahead of the storm grows. This means you might not attain peak after a full morning of trekking which can be rather disappointing. But to quote the Roman historian Tacitus (and later, Bob Marley):
He that fights and runs away, will turn and fight another day; But he is in battle slain, will never rise to fight again.
Replace,”fight” together with,”hike” and it is an easy-to-remember rule of thumb. Should you get caught out there in a big storm, you are able to do a few things but whatever you choose, take action quickly! Don’t stand around thinking about it.
I sat on a Rocky Mountain National Park Ranger talk, while seeing the Alpine Visitor Center last summer and his advice was simple, but impactful. While it might not reflect the official line from the Park Service, this is a reminder of their true nature people and of lightning threats in Colorado.
“When you’re up above tree line in the wilderness on an adventure, you’re on your own. If you are injured by lightning, that bad weather will keeps rescuers away until it passes. Few park rangers would risk their live to save you atop a mountain during a thunderstorm with lightning could kill them as well. If you hear thunder and it’s approaching, run. Run as fast as you can downhill to get below tree line. Don’t linger. Make haste and move! Once you’re below tree-line, make yourself small. Don’t stand under tall trees or rock formations, which could attract lightning. If the lightning is really bad and you have nowhere to go, crouch down on the balls of your feet, removing your metal-lined hiking pack, hiking poles and mountaineer axe so that if lightning does strike near you, it channels past instead of through you.”
Cut and operate. That’s the bottom line when it starts storming from the High Country. This can help to insure you’ll have a safe summer and several long years of mountaineering ahead.
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