Diver Killed by Lightning in Deerfield Beach

[JahJahwarrior]

Also, article says "diving" but I don't remember it saying SCUBA. Was the guy freediving? Mayb escalloping?



My prayers go out to his family, a death on the water would ruin my experiences in it......

 

[Scuba_Jenny]

My condolences to his family and friends.

 

[joeamit]

Very sad.
My condolences to his family and friends.

 

[DennisW]

My condolences as well. Lightning is a strange thing, you never know what the results of a strike will be. I surely don't like being outside when there is heavy lightning.

 

[RickI]

My condolences to the man's family and friends in his tragic loss.

Southeastern Florida is receiving regular afternoon thermal squalls as in years past currently. As a rule they are on the coast around 2:30 to 5:30 more or less. Some of the squalls this weekend have been particularly threatening. Some of the storms (gust fronts or shelf clouds) I saw a few miles north of the accident area on Saturday were among the most severe I've seen in many years. Sunday wasn't much better. This pattern should continue for the next several days perhaps longer. There was also a 65 mph squall related gust spike in the area around the time of the accident.

The squalls on Saturday and perhaps Sunday made the above storm look mild by comparison.

Radar images before the accident

Lighting strikes on divers seem to be rare. Lightning strikes to people on land in Florida are not that uncommon. Boat strikes aren't all that rare either. It is something to think about.

More details, images from the area and precautions appear at:
http://fksa.org/showthread.php?t=4365

 

[cudachaser]

That always scares me...I never thought a person on the surface could be a target

 

[frankc420]

Well, this may be a myth but I've always heard lightning starts from the ground and goes up. The lightning effect you see going down is some kind of reaction. I would think that in water, you have a higher chance of being struck than on land. Considering the fact that electricity takes the path of least resistance, that tank of his would have for sure been that path. He was just unlucky enough to be near it.

I may be a mile off on how lightning works, but it's what I was told by a teacher back in high school

 

[joh]

Poor guy. This is why I don't dive in the afternoon during the summer. Lightning-intensive storms pop up out of nowwhere offshore. We dive in the A.M. and stay safely inside during the stormy afternoons...

It's true that boat strikes are common in Florida this time of year. I don't want to be anywhere near the water during a lightning storm.

 

[jeandiver]

I saw this morning where they say lightning struck his tank cylinder...(UFFDA)

My prayers go out to the Family...

Jean

 

[joeamit]

Police identify diver killed by lightning off Deerfield.

Police identified Stephen Wilson Monday as the 36-year-old man who was struck and killed by lightning while diving in the Atlantic Ocean off Deerfield Beach on Sunday afternoon, authorities said.

http://www.sun-sentinel.com/sfl-flbweather0723pnjul23,0,7128487.story?coll=sofla_tab01_layout