10 Injured In Colorado Lightning Storms

By Courtney Spamer, Meteorologist

July 19,2013; 8:16PM,EDT

 

 

Two separate lightning strikes in Colorado caused serious injuries Thursday.
In Fort Collins, Col., nine farm workers were struck by lightning while out in the fields.
The Fire Protection District Chief of Wellington, Gary Green, said they were out in the field during a "crazy lightning storm" that moved through the area around 4:00 p.m. MDT.
Two people were critically injured.
Only a few hours earlier, a woman who was hiking in Rocky Mountain National Park was also stuck by lightning.
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Further more, these were not the first injury-causing lightning strikes this week.
On Wednesday, two adults and young boy were struck by lightning in Montana while they were hiking in Glacier National Park. All three were initially knocked unconscious by the strike.

While lightning is not the biggest weather-related killer, lightning can be extremely dangerous, killing 50-100 people in a typical year.
As Samantha-Rae Tuthill explained during Lightning Awareness Week, the best shelter is in a sturdy enclosed building.