Gold Coast Junior Golf Foundation, Inc.

 
Some Enlightening Facts About Lightning You Need to Know

The average lightning stroke is 6 miles long

The average thunderstorm is 6-10 miles wide

The average thunderstorm travels at a rate of 25 mph

On average, thunder can only be heard over a distance of 3-4 miles, depending on humidity, terrain, and other factors.

Some people count the number of seconds from the flash to thunder to compute the distance. They forget to divide that number by 5 to get the approximate distance.

Example: If you see lightning and count to 10, the lightning is 2 miles away; not 10 miles.

Once the leading edge of a thunderstorm approaches to within 10 miles, you are at immediate risk due to the possibility of lightning strokes coming from the overhanging anvil cloud. Because of this, many lightning deaths and injuries occur with clear skies directly overhead.

Please familiarize yourself with the Weather Warning procedure in the GCJGF Handbook.