July is the deadliest month for lightning in the U.S., and some of what puts people at risk is what they never think twice about — starting with the umbrella over their head.

How lightning strikes work

It helps to know how lightning picks its target. It follows the path of least resistance from cloud to ground, and whether that path runs through you comes down to three things: height, a sharp point and isolation. Being the tallest thing around, out in the open and alone is what makes you vulnerable.
One thing that doesn't matter: metal. Despite the common belief, metal doesn't attract lightning — trees and other objects with little or no metal are struck all the time. What metal and water do is conduct electricity. They don't pull a bolt toward you, but they can carry its current straight through you once a strike lands nearby.

That's why raising an umbrella can backfire — not because it's metal, but because it adds height and a sharp point above your head.

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Where you're at risk of being struck

The danger is greatest outdoors. More than half of U.S. lightning deaths happen during recreational activities, according to the U.S. Forest Service, with fishing and other water-based pastimes topping the list, ahead of golf. The gear doesn't help: golf clubs, fishing poles and wet rope all conduct electricity.

But the risk doesn't stop at the door. If lightning hits a building, the current can travel through its wiring and plumbing. Anything wired into your home's electrical system is a path — a corded phone, a phone on a charger, wired earbuds running from a charging phone to your ears. So is your plumbing: metal pipes and the water inside both conduct, which is why showering during a thunderstorm raises your risk.

The takeaway is simple. When a storm moves in, get inside — and once you're there, stay off anything that plugs in, holds water or runs metal to the outside world.

Content writer Ada Wood enjoys exploring the stories that science and climate teach us about our natural world and how it influences the way we live in it.