fish
09-02-2003, 02:05 AM
Motorcyclist Killed In Freak Lightning Accident
Aug 26, 2003 2:31 pm US/Mountain
COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo. (AP) A Florida man died near Lake George in Colorado's sixth lightning-related fatality this year.
Robert McCormack, 59, was struck in the neck by lightning as he drove east on U.S. Highway 24 Sunday, the Colorado State Patrol said.
"It's being in the wrong place at the wrong time," Sgt. Martin Petrik told The Gazette. "I never heard of it, never saw it."
McCormack, who was wearing a helmet and traveling about 50 mph, crashed after being struck. An autopsy Monday revealed the St. Augustine, Fla., man died from the lightning strike, not the crash.
Colorado has averaged three lightning deaths annually since 1959. The last time lightning killed a motorcyclist was in August 1984 near Cripple Creek.
"It seems to be a rare occurrence," said meteorologist Tom Magnuson of the National Weather Service in Pueblo. "Usually people are killed when they're not moving in a vehicle. They're just outdoors when they get struck and killed."
No one died from lightning last year, but three lightning-related deaths were recorded in 2001, and two in 2000.
Experts aren't sure why more people have died from lightning this year than during the last three years combined.
"We've had other years where we had much more severe weather and not as many lighting deaths," Magnuson said. "It may just be some flukes going on, some unfortunate lightning strikes. There's no pattern to it."
:yow
source. (http://news4colorado.com/crimeaccidentreport/local_story_238163257.html)
Aug 26, 2003 2:31 pm US/Mountain
COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo. (AP) A Florida man died near Lake George in Colorado's sixth lightning-related fatality this year.
Robert McCormack, 59, was struck in the neck by lightning as he drove east on U.S. Highway 24 Sunday, the Colorado State Patrol said.
"It's being in the wrong place at the wrong time," Sgt. Martin Petrik told The Gazette. "I never heard of it, never saw it."
McCormack, who was wearing a helmet and traveling about 50 mph, crashed after being struck. An autopsy Monday revealed the St. Augustine, Fla., man died from the lightning strike, not the crash.
Colorado has averaged three lightning deaths annually since 1959. The last time lightning killed a motorcyclist was in August 1984 near Cripple Creek.
"It seems to be a rare occurrence," said meteorologist Tom Magnuson of the National Weather Service in Pueblo. "Usually people are killed when they're not moving in a vehicle. They're just outdoors when they get struck and killed."
No one died from lightning last year, but three lightning-related deaths were recorded in 2001, and two in 2000.
Experts aren't sure why more people have died from lightning this year than during the last three years combined.
"We've had other years where we had much more severe weather and not as many lighting deaths," Magnuson said. "It may just be some flukes going on, some unfortunate lightning strikes. There's no pattern to it."
:yow
source. (http://news4colorado.com/crimeaccidentreport/local_story_238163257.html)