Dear Tom,
When there are thunderstorms, a safe place to be is in a car. I believe this is because of the rubber tires against the ground. Is this correct? Would it then be safe to ride a bike in a thunderstorm?
Charlotta Jonsson, Evanston
Dear Charlotta,
An automobile–hard-topped and with its windows closed–does indeed offer protection from a lightning strike during thunderstorms. This is so not because the vehicle sits on rubber tires but because electric current from a strike passes over the surface of the vehicle’s metal sheath, over its tires and into the ground.
If you consider that a lightning bolt passes through several miles of air (which, like rubber, is a poor conductor of electricity), you will realize that a thin layer of rubber offers no protection at all from a lightning strike. For this reason, bicycling during a thunderstorm is a high-risk activity.
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Tom Skilling is chief meteorologist at WGN-TV. His forecasts can be seen Monday through Friday on WGN News at noon and 9 p.m.
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