Is it safe to take a shower outside during a thunderstorm?

One of the basic principles of lightning safety is that you don't want to be the highest thing around and you don't want to be under something that is the highest thing around.

For example only one group has ever been struck while floating the Colorado through the Grand Canyon, but multiple people have been struck either on the rim or while sheltering under trees on the top.

Given that shower heads are usually higher than people, I would not want to be standing underneath one during a thunderstorm.

posted about 7 years ago

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Charlie Brumbaugh‭

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I'd say slightly dangerous, and probably more dangerous than other locations. You wish to avoid two things in thunderstorms. Places that are higher than the local area (50m-ish area) and "electrical earth".

A shower is a superb electrical earth, metal structure, with a better connection to "earth" than most protective earth setups. Just imagine the miles of pipes running below.

A shower is generally higher than you, but if the said shower was just next to the eiffel tower it wouldn't be much of a concern. Hard to say in your case. But I would probably, as a rule, avoid outdoor showers in a thunder storm. There is also the chance that there would be arcing in and between the shower pipes due to a lightning hit elsewhere, if it hit the water pipes. But now we are in the "really unlucky" part of the probability chart.

posted about 7 years ago

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Stian Yttervik‭

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Given that it's not safe to be outside during a thunderstorm at all, and the showers were outside, the answer is clearly no.

There's really not much more to be said. This is basic common sense that you need to exercise a little more liberally while in the outdoors.

posted about 7 years ago

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Carey Gregory‭

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