“Bolts from the Blue": Lightning strikes dangerous in summer

By Emily Hilley-Sierzchula

Sports teams at Marble Falls Independent School District (MFISD) are prepared for lightning strikes, especially “bolts from the blue” that strike miles ahead of a thunderstorm. Three children were injured Aug. 26 by lightning that struck their soccer field in the Bee Cave area, three miles ahead of the thunderstorm.

The Marble Falls High School soccer team coach, like all coaches at the school, makes sure his players are safe.

Rick Hoover, MFHS head soccer coach, said the district has an electronic system that sends him a text message if lightning strikes within 20 miles, and alerts him again to clear the field if it strikes within 10 miles. “We then have to be lightning-free for 30 minutes before we go out again.” Hoover said. All MFISD coaches have the same system.

“There are no rules with Mother Nature, and technology is not foolproof, so you have to use common sense,” he said. “If I see lightning and don’t get a text, I’m still clearing the field.”

Lightning, which is hotter than the surface of the sun, often strikes at a distance of three miles ahead of the center of a thunderstorm, and can strike as much as 15 miles ahead of the center of a thunderstorm – giving them the term “bolts from the blue,” according to the National Weather Service (NWS) lightning safety website.

Bolts from the blue often come out of the side of a storm cell rather than from the base of a storm, said Bob Rose, Lower Colorado River Authority meteorologist on Thursday, Aug. 28.

Three months in summer (June, July, August) are the peak season for lightning strikes, according to the NWS, accounting for 70 percent of lightning deaths. 

For the full story, see Friday's Highlander.