Is It Safe To Take A Shower In A Thunderstorm?

[Johnny Rico]

Once I passed through a high intensity static field that was occuring as a result of a severe electrical disturbance in the atmosphere. The interior of my car (doors, steering wheel, gear shift, etc) began conducting electricity and I felt a short shocking pinprick sensation on my hands. When I arrived at my destination and got out of the car, the feeling spread to the rest of my body, particularly my eyes. I thought I was going to spontaneously combust.

Moral of the story? Electricity might ***** you up, but then again it might not.

[atszyman]

Originally Posted by WildCowboy

...or while on the phone if a lightning bolt strikes your house...

Keep in mind that the phone deal only applies to corded phones.

The cordless phones almost everyone uses now-a-days do not have a direct path to anything and therefore are safe to use during a thunderstorm. The base might get fried if your house gets struck but there isn't a nice wired path to you so you should be OK.

[superbovine]

http://amos.indiana.edu/library/scripts/shower.html

oday, we dip into the mailbag: Dear A Moment of Science, my husband says it's dangerous to shower during thunderstorms, but I think it's fun. Our house has plastic pipes, which are great insulators, but he won't listen to reason. Who's right? Signed: Amy.
Let's start by reviewing the basics. When lightning strikes, the electrical current follows the path of least resistance down to the ground. This means that, given the chance, the current will jump from a worse conductor to a better conductor. And if you happen to be the best conductor around, that current will go right through you. That's why lightning rods are so important: they provide the current with an easy and safe route to the ground.

Metal is a good conductor, so if lightning strikes an unprotected house, chances are the current will travel through any metal pipes. What's more, the tap water moving in these pipes contains impurities that help the water conduct electrical current. When you're wet, the natural resistance of your body is cut by half, and the salt and contaminants on your skin decrease your resistance further. So basically, being wet can make the difference between an unpleasant electrical shock and a deadly one.

Now, even though plastic pipes are insulated, and therefore, poor conductors of electricity, you should still avoid showering during a thunderstorm. After all, you never know where the plastic pipes hook up with metal fixtures. Your house may contain a metal frame, metal air conditioning and heating systems, metal ducts, and so on. So why take unnecessary risks? Stay safe and wait to shower until after the storm.

http://science.howstuffworks.com/question681.htm

Over 1,000 people get struck by lightning every year in the United States, and over 100 of them die as a result of the strike. Lightning is a very dangerous force that, yes, can even reach you indoors if you're in contact with the telephone or plumbing.

If lightning strikes the phone line outside your house, the strike will travel to every phone on the line -- and potentially to you if you are holding the phone. So, if you are indoors during a lightning storm, stay off the phone. If you must call someone, use a cordless or cell phone -- that way, you're not in contact with any wires that run outdoors.

Stay away from plumbing pipes like your bath tub or shower, as well. Lightning has the ability to strike a house or near a house and impart an electrical charge to the metal pipes used for plumbing. If you're touching those pipes or anything connected to those pipes, that electrical charge has a path to you. This threat is not as great as it used to be, because PVC (polyvinyl chloride) is often used for indoor plumbing these days. If you are not sure what your pipes are made of, wait it out.

And while you're at it, switch off your appliances and electronics. Such devices as your computer, television and air conditioner all provide potential pathways between the lightning and you.

[swingerofbirch]

Living where I do we can have thunderstorms almost every night during the summer. I never shower during them, and I won't even urinate, for fear that electricity could travel through the pipes in the house to the water through the stream of urine.

I go around and turn off my two computers (I know I should probably unplug them but we have lightning so often I get lazy), and then I run to find my dog. I have to hug him through the storm. The sounds make him shake uncontrollably.