Two swim consortium weather policies have surprise me in late years . One was when I usher up to drown laps at an outside pool as it was begin to drizzle . “ Come on in , ” I was told ; as long as there was no lightning , the pool was still open . So I had one of my weirdest swims ever : you turn your capitulum out of the piddle to breathe , but your grimace is still wet . Thanks , rain .
Here ’s the other : an indoor pool I know closes during thunderstorms . Surely they ’ve bought into some freaky urban caption , right ?
If it ’s a myth , it ’s a popular one . As one YMCAexplains ,
The YMCA of the USA , FEMA , the American Red Cross , NOAA , and the National Lightning Safety Institute all counsel to not use plumbing of any kind during thunder and lightning and to stay clear of window .
Meanwhile , the Director of Aquatics at a university athletic department agrees with my first imprint . Hewritesthat closing indoor pools for lightning is “ THE urban myth ” and add :
At Penn State University we keep our four indoor pool opened during electrical storms with the approval of our Environmental Health and Safety Department , the Risk Management Department and our High Voltage Experts on campus .
From there , the public debate have eldritch , and is mostly conducted on early-2000s - era websites . ( I saw more twinkle textbook and Comic Sans researching this subject than I ever think I would see in an good afternoon in 2015 . ) Several of the anti - pool - closing websites observe a Dr. Vicki Weiss , quoted in 2008 in Aquatics Internationalas saying that “ a consortium settlement insurance policy is in violation of the National Electric Code section 250.4(A)(1 ) and you will be open to regulatory enforcement . ”
I looked up the National Electric Code section 250.4(A)(1 ) . Here ’s what it says :
250 . Grounding and tie
( A ) Grounded Systems .
( 1 ) electric System Grounding . Electrical systems that are grounded shall be connect to world in a manner than will limit the voltage imposed by lightning , line surges , or unplanned contact with higher - voltage lines and that will brace the voltage to eart during normal operation .
Informational note : An important considerateness for limiting the impose voltage is the routing of bonding and grounding electrode director so that they are not any longer than necessary to complete the connection without commove the lasting parts of the facility and so that unnecessary aeroembolism and grommet are avoided .
There ’s nothing in there about kitty windup insurance . It does say that electrical system should be bonded and grounded to minimize possible damage from lightning . Does that mean that you are entirely perfectly safe when in a pool ?
Not necessarily . The Redwoods Group , which put up insurance to some YMCAs , notesthat some pool buildings were build before this regulation was in effect , some have metallic element bleacher or lifeguard chairs that are n’t connect to ground , and that the bonding in a well - built organisation can still drop over prison term . That means some puddle are believably secure in a lightning violent storm , some definitely are n’t , and there are plenty whose condition is n’t well-defined .
Now the inconsistent policies make more sense . Aquatics conductor who are confident that their building is protected from lightning may choose to keep the consortium open during storm ; others may fuck that theirs is not safe or may choose to close out of caution . Lightning has beenobserved in indoor pools , causing injuries and electrical damage .
One last point : a particular both sides repeat is that nobody has ever been killed by lightning while swim indoors . ButNOAA ’s data on lightning fatalitiesdon’t distinguish between indoor and out-of-door swim . This factoid is ground on an absence seizure of grounds , not evidence of absence .
How do most lightning fatalities occur?Fishing and camping , according to NOAA , with many occurring as somebody search shelter too belatedly . human being make up 81 % of total fatality , and 90 % in the fishing and summercater categories . Better to get inside ( or out of a pool , if involve ) than to stop up likeone of these inauspicious but comically animated pixel masses .
This articlefirst appeared on PLoS Blogsand is republish under Creative Commons license . Image byDevon Christopher Adamsunder Creative Commons licence .
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