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There is widespread belief in my culture that we should not stay near door or windows during lightning. So people advise others to stay inside house with doors and windows closed to be safe from lightning. Is there any scientific basis for that idea of being hit by lightning when staying close to doors or windows?

unor
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Four Seasons
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    I saw a ball lightning enter a room through a window once. Obviously, in such an event, there is a much higher chance that you will be in its path if you are at the window it comes through than somewhere else in the room. But the probability of ever experiencing a ball lightning in your life is so low that it may not be practically relevant. – rumtscho Jul 28 '14 at 14:15
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    The same applies to watching fireworks! – gerrit Jul 28 '14 at 14:37
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    Just recently a few houses down the street a lightning split a tree causing debris to shatter some windows. Google around and you will find many such incidents. Then judge if it is safe by your own subjective measures of safety. – PlasmaHH Jul 28 '14 at 14:51
  • I hope you follow advice this sensical even *before* verifying it. – djechlin Jul 28 '14 at 17:17
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    http://arstechnica.com/science/2013/05/i-was-struck-by-lightning-yesterday-and-boy-am-i-sore/ At least one example of lighting coming in a window and striking someone. I don't now the probabilities for it happening though. – stonemetal Jul 28 '14 at 19:36
  • As for getting *hit* by lightning, brass plumbing, running water and land-line phones seem like more likely problems. – RBarryYoung Jul 28 '14 at 21:10
  • I would guess that having some object thrown through the window by the storm is a bigger hazard than lightning through the window. – Daniel R Hicks Jul 29 '14 at 19:59
  • I grew up in Africa in a storm belt. I was once holding on to a steel fence when lightning struck the line about 20 yards away. I survived (duh), but it was nasty. I was standing near a 50ft tree that was hit and exploded; I got some minor burns and splinters. I've been in a house that was struck repeatedly; that time it broke windows and damaged a chimney. The house had conductors and the windows were all closed. It can, and does happen. Always close windows in a storm, and stay back from them. Stay indoors, don't use a landline phone, or running water from above-the-ground sources. – Jongosi Jul 29 '14 at 20:03

1 Answers1

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It's not just your culture. Advice from the US National Weather Service includes:

Stay away from windows and doors, and stay off porches.

The answer to this related question (including the transcript of interview with meteorologist John Jensenius) and this advice from National Geographic gives some reasons for the advice.

  • Metal frame windows and doors are good electrical conductors, but even glass can conduct lightning.
  • Lightning strikes on the building or debris from nearby strikes can shatter glass in windows and doors causing flying glass.
  • Lightning is often accompanied by other extreme weather including high winds and hail which can damage windows and doors.
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Colin Pickard
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    The problem is that it just says what *could* happen, but not how likely it is to happen. Nothing is safe if you only consider what *could* happen; things are safe when dangerous things are unlikely. Am I more likely to be killed or injured by gazing through a window at a thunderstorm than driving a car while using a phone? – Gabe Jul 28 '14 at 16:00
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    @Gabe The question that was asked wasn't "How likely is this to happen?". I'd suggest you open your own question. You're more likely to get an answer that way. – MiniRagnarok Jul 28 '14 at 16:14
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    @MiniRagnarok: If you interpret every "is it safe to do X" question to mean "is it *impossible* to be killed or injured while doing X" then the answer will always be "no", so the only reasonable interpretation is "will I be less likely to be killed or injured doing X than other everyday activities". If I am more likely to be injured from walking away from the window (due to a heart attack or falling) than from a possible lightning strike, then it's actually safer to stand there than to move away. – Gabe Jul 28 '14 at 16:32
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    The question is " Is there any scientific basis for that idea of being hit by lightning when staying close to doors or windows?". There *is* a scientific basis for the idea; whether it is statistically useful advice belongs in a separate question (possibly on statistics SE?) – Colin Pickard Jul 28 '14 at 21:01
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    @ColinPickard: The OP is trying to figure out if their cultural belief about standing near windows during thunderstorms has any basis in fact. It makes far more sense to me to answer based on how likely it is to be injured rather than how it happens (how lightning goes through windows is more of a physics question). – Gabe Jul 28 '14 at 21:21
  • I've cleaned out a lot of comments here. Please use comments only to suggest improvements for the answer, not to debate speculatively (see [help]). You can use [chat] for that. Please focus on how to improve this answer or provide your own answer if you can do better. Comments are **not OK** because they don't get voted upon. – Sklivvz Jul 29 '14 at 23:41
  • I think the danger is in possibility of something breaking the window - debris, wind, etc. more than lighting injuring you. – jnovacho Jul 30 '14 at 07:43
  • *"Metal frame windows and doors are good electrical conductors, but even glass can conduct lightning..."* That statement is rather misleading. Fact #1: Glass is a great insulator. Fact #2: Electricity is going to take the path of least resistance. The probability of the *glass* itself conducting electricity in this case is absurdly low. The real danger is shattering glass due to debris or pressure waves. – arkon Jun 12 '17 at 19:09