Photo/Illutration A lightning strike in central Tokyo as seen from Tokyo Skytree in August 2018 (Asahi Shimbun file photo)

Avoid getting fried by a thunderbolt this summer by staying at home.

If that proves impossible, try to seek shelter indoors somewhere and don’t even think about sitting out a thunderstorm by crouching under the eaves of a house. Ditto for tall trees.

The months of July and August are the worst.

A man in his 20s who lives in Aichi Prefecture recalled hearing an ominous crackle in the heavens before he was nearly blown off his feet by a thunderbolt last winter.

It was before dawn and the man was out fishing in a coastal area of the prefecture’s Tahara city. No thunderstorm warning had been issued in the weather forecast for that day.

With the sun starting to rise, the man spotted black rain clouds far away and saw a flash of lightning in the distance.

“I couldn’t hear any sound then, so I thought I would be OK,” he recalled. “I assumed the lightning was far away.”

But the moment he cast his line from his carbon-fashioned fishing rod into the sea, he was struck by “a strong static shock.”

The man tossed his rod away and hurried back to his car.

“I should have sought shelter as soon as I noticed the thundercloud,” he said.

Lightning strikes are common around Japan in July and August.

Data kept over the course of 10 years from 2013 by lightning observer Franklin Japan Corp. shows an average of 744,000 thunderbolts in July, 1.4 times that for June, over the Japanese archipelago and surrounding waters.

The average figure for August over the same period is 947,000.

A total of 14 individuals were killed and 50 others injured by lightning during the five-year period from 2005, according to police records. Such statistics are no longer kept.

STAY LOW ANYWAY

Otowa Electric Co., based in Amagasaki, Hyogo Prefecture, has been researching lightning for more than 70 years.

Koji Asano, who works in the company’s sales promotion section, provided tips on how to avoid damage.

“Thunderbolts are prone to strike before evening showers in summer, primarily on the Pacific side and inland areas.”

As soon as a person notices cumulonimbus cloud formations or feels evening showers approaching, he or she should seek safety indoors, whether it be in a building, a car or a train. Seeking shelter in tents, golf carts and pergolas is deemed to be too risky.

Higher places are more vulnerable to thunderbolts. For that reason, seeking shelter under tall trees is dangerous.

Taking shelter from the storm below the eaves of a house is not recommended either because electric shocks can readily reach those spots.

If there are no buildings nearby, “keep a low posture anyway with no metallic objects in your hands,” Asano advises.

He said AM radio can be used to detect thunderbolts in mountains and beaches, which offer few places to hide.

He noted that lightning strikes in a neighborhood can cause a rattling noise.

“The shortest way to save lives is to quickly identify the danger and get away as soon as possible,” Asano added.

Even at home there are risks. He advises people to stay at least one meter away from telephone lines and power cables to stay safe during thunderstorms.

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