A low-cost "early warning" monitor that will help reduce the risk of injury.

There is at least one good reason why you should consider building a Thunderstorm Monitor. Scientific studies have shown that by the time you hear the most distant rumble of thunder, or see the most distant flash, it may already be too late. You are already within range of the next lightning strike. That is, as humans we are incapable, through our five senses, of receiving timely warning of a possible strike.

Two leading lightning researchers in Japan (N. Kitagawa and A. Sugita) recently stated, “It is concluded that there exists no safe time interval during which a human is free from direct strikes.” In keeping with this, it has been shown that a thunderstorm’s danger zone covers a radius of at least sixteen kilometres (or 800 square kilometres’ area) beyond a given lightning strike. A classic example of this is the phrase “bolt from the blue” – that is, a lightning strike under clear skies, which often happens “within range” of a nearby thunderstorm. This phenomenon is so common that it has become an idiom of the English language.

Lightning is not an insignificant risk to humans. It causes more deaths than do most other natural hazards, including hurricanes and tornadoes. The author knows several people who experienced near misses from lightning – including his wife, who was once missed by a mere four metres! She was sitting outside to admire the storm at the time. The risk is particularly acute if you should be standing out in the open, or should find yourself on open waters when a thunderstorm approaches. Patrons of golf clubs, soccer clubs, and boating clubs are at particular risk – not to speak of the clubs themselves, which might be held liable for injury or death if they have no early-warning system or lightning safety policy in place.

This low-cost "early warning" monitor will indicate the possibility of a thundertorm in advance of any thunder or lightning, thereby greatly reducing the risk of injury.