Buzz
If you still rely on a landline phone, it's best to leave it off during a thunderstorm to stay safe.
Stacey Newman/ThinkStockImportant Takeaways
- Using a phone in a thunderstorm can expose you to the risk of electric shock.
- Phones with metal components are more likely to attract lightning, raising the chances of being struck, while using a wired phone also poses a risk due to electrical conductivity.
- For safety, it’s best to avoid using any phones during a thunderstorm and stay inside until the danger passes.
Here’s a list of things you should definitely avoid doing in a thunderstorm: (1) flying a kite, (2) standing under a tree, (3) wearing metal armor while playing touch football, (4) placing an antenna on your head, (5) standing atop the Empire State Building and taunting Mother Nature, or (6) calling someone to have them sing "My Favorite Things" to soothe you. While some of these might be amusing, others can cause serious harm. After all, annoying a friend with your rendition of Julie Andrews is much less risky than attempting to reenact Ben Franklin's electrical experiment in a violent storm.
Or does it? Many of us have heard the warning that talking on a landline telephone during a thunderstorm could cause a bolt of electricity to shoot into our ears. While it may sound like an overreaction, there’s some truth to this claim. If you’re safe at home during a storm, it’s probably wise to avoid lengthy conversations on the phone.
To grasp why a landline might send a jolt of electricity through your body during a storm, you need to understand how quickly electricity moves. It doesn’t take its time; it rushes straight to the ground. So, if lightning strikes your house, the electrical current will follow the metal wiring in your home [source: MythBusters]. And if you're talking on the phone, that wiring ends right at your ear.
This means the terrifying outcome you're worried about: a shock that could burst eardrums or even cause cardiac arrest. In fact, one or two people die each year from lightning strikes through a phone line [source: MythBusters]. But it’s not just the telephone that puts you in danger; using any electrical appliance (like a TV or blender) during a storm can expose you to the same risk of electrical current traveling through your body [source: Donahue].
Even more unsettling is the fact that the New England Medical Journal has reported that iPods (and other personal electronics) carry their own small danger in thunderstorms. Often, lightning doesn’t directly strike a person but jumps to them from a target. This typically results in a less severe electrical shock. However, if you’re wearing metal earbuds, you're at risk for a more dangerous shock that could directly affect your head [source: Heffernan]. The takeaway? Skip your workout during thunderstorms. Sitting on the couch won’t hurt you, but running in the storm might.
