Governor Hickenlooper has proclaimed the week of 22 - 28 June as Colorado Lightning Safety Awareness Week. The Colorado Division of Homeland Security and Emergency Management, READYColorado and the Division of Fire Prevention and Control are partnering together this week with the National Weather Service to raise the awareness of lightning safety. The National Weather Service will write daily blogs that will be posted on READYColorado.com each day.
Lightning strikes the ground in our state over a half million times each year...and with many of us participating in outdoor activities we need to learn how to protect ourselves from the lightning threat.
Lightning is also responsible for about half of the wildfires in Colorado each year. When lightning or other conditions are conducive to a high wildfire threat the National Weather Service will issue Fire Weather Watches or Red Flag Warnings.
During this week a series of statements will cover a variety of topics related to lightning and wildfires:
MONDAY: LIGHTNING OVERVIEW Lightning strikes the ground in our state over a half million times each year...and with many of us participating in outdoor activities we need to learn how to protect ourselves from the lightning threat.
Lightning is also responsible for about half of the wildfires in Colorado each year. When lightning or other conditions are conducive to a high wildfire threat the National Weather Service will issue Fire Weather Watches or Red Flag Warnings.
During this week a series of statements will cover a variety of topics related to lightning and wildfires:
TUESDAY: THE SCIENCE OF THUNDERSTORMS AND LIGHTNING
WEDNESDAY: LIGHTNING SAFETY OUTSIDE
THURSDAY: LIGHTNING SAFETY INSIDE
FRIDAY: MEDICAL ISSUES OF LIGHTNING INJURIES
SATURDAY: LIGHTNING AND WILDFIRES
There are a couple of web sites that contain additional information. Information on lightning across the United States can be found at:
Information on lightning statistics in Colorado is available at:
