July in Rocky View County has been marked with grey, overcast skies, a collection of thunderstorm watches and warnings, and a reliable downpour of rain.
Dan Kulak, meteorologist with Environment Canada, said Alberta is currently in its wet season after a dry winter and spring, and with it comes public concern when extreme weather warnings are issued.
In Alberta about eight tornados on average touch down every year, he said, but fatalities resulting from tornado activity are not an annual occurrence.
When tornados fatalities do occur, Kulak said it is usually in multiples and garners much of the public’s attention, while the risk and annual fatalities caused by the 300,000 lightning strikes in Alberta goes relatively unnoticed.
“We hear about those multiple fatalities from the very rare events, but we forget about the multiple fatalities from the very common events,” he said.
“From a statistical perspective, you have a far greater likelihood to get killed or injured by lightning than you (do) by a tornado.”
He said complacency with the commonality of lightning in Alberta puts individuals at risk and, according to Environment Canada’s website, 97 per cent of lightning-related deaths reported in Canada since 1986 have occurred from June to August.
Kulak said people usually stay outdoors far too long when the rumble of thunder and the flashes of lightning approach because there is no sense of immediate threat that would drive them to seek shelter.
“You’re so used to being outside and not being affected by these things you end up one day getting caught by them,” Kulak said.
The idea of “attracting” lighting is also sort of a misconception, he said.
Most of the human fatalities caused by lighting are not the result of a direct strike, Kulak said, but rather from what he called ground currents caused by a nearby strike that sends deadly currents through the ground and into a person’s body.
Ground currents are also why many cattle are found dead after a lightning storm.
“When you’re out there, you’re part of nature,” he said. “You just don’t know when that next strike is going to happen and where it’s going to hit.”
The year to date average as of July 10 for parts of Rocky View County recorded 20.9 millimeters (mm) of rain. According to statistics from the Calgary International Airport, the yearly average, based on a 30-year trend from 1981 to 2010, is 65.5 mm. Kulak said this is just a reminder summer does come with long stretches of wet weather.
“Those thunderstorms are the main source of moisture in the months of the summer,” he said.
