Can any1 tell me how far i have to be from the tallest object around to be safe during a lightning storm?

Question

okay so proffesionals say that ur in great danger if ur the tallest object like on a golf course during a lightning storm but they also say ur in danger when ur under the tallest object i was just wondering if i was caought in a lightning storm and there was a tree near me how far should i be from to not get shocked and

Answer 1

Well, it probably depends on the height of the tallest object, but I wouldn't stay less than 20 feet away.  Lightning always follows the path of least resistance and going through anything solid is less resistant than air is, so you definitely don't want to be the tallest thing around.  But if the tallest thing, say a tree, is going to have lightning passing through it, you probably don't want to be hugging it and chance that the lightning suddenly finds you less resistant than the tree.  I'd say at least 20 feet should be enough to convince the lightning it'd have better luck with just the tree.