The sound of a thunderstorm and flashes of lightning often startle people, but they’re especially thrilling to Mace Bentley, a professor at James Madison University who studies lightning.He says bolts of lightning release electrical charges that build up in clouds, and they’re rarely a danger to people.
“Roughly ten percent of all lightning is the lightning that actually strikes the ground," he says. "Ninety percent of it is either within the cloud or from cloud to cloud.”
Still, the phenomenon is more likely than it used to be, since climate change makes thunderstorms more common. Florida reports more of that weather than any other state, and Virginia – with its seasonal climate -- doesn’t come close.
“You know once we start getting into October, November and we start getting cold fronts coming through Virginia, the atmosphere stabilizes,” Bentley explains.
That said, Virginia does have three geographic features that seem to correlate with lightning strikes – mountains, beaches and cities.
“Urban areas because of the hard concrete surfaces and asphaltabsorbs a lot of energy from the sun, re-releases it as heat.”
Add to the mix air pollution, and you’ve got a recipe for thunder and lightning. Bentley says wind direction may also be a factor.
“The west-to-east flow over the mountains tend to displace a lot of that thunderstorm activity in West Virginia and not in the western regions of Virginia, but we do see – with an easterly wind – that some thunderstorms that develop along the Blue Ridge, in Charlottesville heading up into the Winchester region for instance.”
And storms that form along the coast, with help from sea salt in the air, can stretch inland as far as Richmond. Bentley says it’s important to take shelter the minute you hear thunder, because lightning bolts can travel a long distance.
“A bolt of lightning can strike sometimes 5 to 10 miles away from a thunderstorm.”
Which is why we have a saying – like a bolt out of the blue.
“Sometimes you can be standing several miles away from a thunderstorm in clear skies – where the sun may still be out, but a bolt will come out of that particular cloud and emanate far away from the cloud itself and strike the ground.”
People do, sometimes, get a warning of sorts.
“If you feel your skin tingle or your hair stand on end, that could very well be that lightning is about to strike either yourself or very close by," Bentley says. "A way to protect yourself is to crouch down and get on the front of your feet – get into like a ball. Cover your head and ears, because the other hazard from lightning is ear drum damage from the concussion.”
And there are ways to protect homes and buildings. Shawn Maddux is the fire marshal for Albemarle County.
“Every structure that’s built in the commonwealth has to have grounding rods. Obviously there’s the minimum, and then you can also add on more, so you will still see lightning rods on houses.”
Those rods are buried deep in the ground, connected by a copper wire to the home. He notes lightning doesn’t always strike the highest building in an area, and it might hit structures nearby, like m
metal, trees or fences.”
If it does hit a home, lighting can cause a fire or damage equipment connected to a building’s electrical system.
“They may suffer a variety of electronic losses – a TV or alarm system," Maddux says.
Which is why some people buy surge protectors for their valuable electronic devices.
“There are some that are rated or claim to withstand lightning. Obviously you pay more for more protection, so if you are going to purchase those devices I recommend reading the fine print to see how much they think they can prevent damage or do they offer some form of reimbursement if you do suffer damage.”
Maddux explains there are too few strikes in Albemarle to say whether they’re becoming more common, but this year we had a stormy summer, leaving the fire marshal’s lawn looking great and prompting six calls for assistance after lightning struck homes – up from none in 2024.
