AccuWeather

Ashburn, VA

46°F
Use Current Location
Recent Locations
46° F
No Results Found.
Try searching for a city, zip code or point of interest.
settings
Ashburn, VA Weather
Now Hourly Daily Radar MinuteCast Monthly Air Quality

Around the Globe

Coronavirus Tracker

right arrow

Winter Center

right arrow

Hurricane Tracker

right arrow

Radar & Maps

right arrow

Video

right arrow

News

right arrow

Podcasts

right arrow
Chevron left
Chevron right
News and Features Astronomy Business Health Recreation Sports Travel

News / Recreation

Powerball or a lightning strike: Which has better odds?

By Mark Puleo, AccuWeather staff writer

Published Jan. 13, 2021 3:52 PM EST

Copied

Powerball and Mega Millions lottery tickets are shown at a retailer, Wednesday, Jan. 13, 2021, in Surfside, Fla. Lottery players will have a shot Friday night at the fifth-largest jackpot in U.S. history after no tickets matched all the numbers in the latest Mega Millions drawing. The big prize for Powerball, the other national lottery game, is $550 million for Wednesday night's drawing. (AP Photo/Wilfredo Lee)

“I don’t understand why people who play the lottery aren’t more afraid of lightning,” joked comedian Kyle Kinane in his special Trampoline In A Ditch. “If you believe in those odds, shouldn’t you be like, ‘I got 20 bucks on the pick five. Wait, is that a storm?!'" Kinane went on, capping the bit with a two-word expletive meant to suggest sudden fear.

As the Mega Millions jackpot rose to $750 million this week, many Americans may be pondering the odds at this point. Even beneath that massive jackpot, which is currently the second-largest of all-time, lottery players can also pin their hopes on the at least $640 million Powerball prize that will be next drawn on Saturday night, after no player won on Wednesday.

After all, someone has to win the money, right?

Well, not so fast.

Hardik Kalra, of Des Moines, Iowa, poses for a photo with his Mega Millions and Powerball lottery tickets, Tuesday, Jan. 12, 2021, in Des Moines, Iowa. (AP Photo/Charlie Neibergall)

After no player overcame the 302,575,350-to-1 odds of winning the Mega Millions jackpot on Tuesday night, the next drawing for the massive prize will be held on Saturday night.

But how crazy are those odds, really?

Well, to amend Kinane’s joke from earlier, if you like your good fortune for winning the lottery, then your fear of equally unlikely misfortune by way of "freak" accidents, such as getting struck by lightning or being crushed by a meteorite or getting attacked by a shark, should be downright terrifying.

"Like I said in the bit, you don't get to believe in only good luck. You either believe in luck (both good AND bad), or you don't," Kinane said to AccuWeather in an email. "So if you're crossing your fingers for the Powerball, might want to ask Zeus to go easy on your neighborhood while you're at it."

In fact, compared to the Mega Millions’ 302,575,350-to-1 winning odds, getting struck by lightning would seem like a near certainty.

According to the National Weather Service, a person has a 1-in-15,300 chance of getting struck by lightning in their lifetime, defined as an 80-year span. That makes your odds of getting struck by lightning nearly 20,000 times higher than hitting the winning numbers for this week's jackpot.

In this Aug. 16, 2020, file photo, lightning forks over the San Francisco-Oakland Bay Bridge as a storm passes over Oakland, Calif. Numerous lightning strikes sparked brush fires throughout the region. (AP Photo/Noah Berger, File)

Data from the National Lightning Safety Council shows that an estimated 234 people are injured by lightning strikes each year. In 2020, 17 fatalities in the United States were attributed to lightning strikes, down from the average number of 26 deaths per year (based on estimations from 2010-2019 figures).

By those odds, you are equally likely to be struck by lightning on 250 different occasions as you are to nailing the right lottery numbers, Newsweek reported.

Here are the odds for some other incredibly improbable events that you are still more likely to experience before winning the lottery:

  • Yellowstone erupting: 1 in 730,000 in any given year, according to the USGS.

  • Being eaten by a shark: 1 in 3.7 million, according to CNBC. Whale Bone Mag adds that those numbers change to 1 in 7 million for Americans living in a landlocked state.

  • Being killed by a meteorite: 1 in 700,000, according to astronomer Alan Harris in Discover Magazine. Those odds are considerably lower for getting struck directly by a meteor, however, dropping to 1-in-1.9 million should a meteor hit Earth.

  • Death by vending machine: 1 in 112 million, according to "The Book of Odds" by Amram Shapiro. According to data from the National Electronic Injury Surveillance System, an average of four Americans died per year, between 2002 and 2015, due to vending machine mishaps.

Correction: Article previously said the next Powerball would be on Friday but has been corrected to Saturday.

Related:

'Incredible!' How a rainy day led to this man winning the lottery The show must go on! Best music performances ever in extreme weather Video shows tourists mesmerized by a rare ‘cloud waterfall’

Keep checking back on AccuWeather.com and stay tuned to the AccuWeather Network on DirecTV, Frontier and Verizon Fios.

Report a Typo
Comments that don't add to the conversation may be automatically or manually removed by Facebook or AccuWeather. Profanity, personal attacks, and spam will not be tolerated.
Comments
Hide Comments

Weather News

Health

Daily coronavirus briefing: U.K. COVID-19 strain could becom...

Jan. 17, 2021
Winter Weather

Beneficial rain, snow to return to Southwest this week

Jan. 17, 2021
Hurricane

'Monster' hurricanes keep getting stronger, analysis shows

Jan. 14, 2021
Winter Weather

Winds that hit Cat 3 hurricane force leave a mess behind

Jan. 15, 2021
Winter Weather

Soaker to end the week in Southeast

Jan. 17, 2021
Weather News

Could "cedar fever" be behind your runny nose this winter?

Jan. 16, 2021
Sports

6 memorable NFL playoff games when the weather won

Weather News

Persistent wintry weather to pester the northeastern US

Jan. 17, 2021
Severe Weather

California to be hit by 100-mph winds in coming days

Jan. 17, 2021
video

'Blinding' snow squall in Charleston

Jan. 17, 2021
Severe Weather

Deadly earthquake leaves hundreds injured in Indonesia

Jan. 16, 2021
video

Snow blankets Palace of Versailles

Jan. 17, 2021
Health

The hidden dangers of drinking hot beverages

Jan. 12, 2021
video

Survivors find shelter as search continues after deadly Indo...

Jan. 17, 2021
Winter Weather

More sea-effect snow in Japan's forecast

Jan. 17, 2021
video

Lifeguards save surfer from rip current off the California c...

Jan. 16, 2021
video

Neighborhood jumps into action to free hearse stuck on snowy...

Jan. 16, 2021
video

Santa Ana wind event brewing for Southern California

Jan. 17, 2021
video

Crews battle devastating wildfire in Chile

Jan. 16, 2021
Show More Show Less Chevron down

Topics

News and Features

right arrow

Astronomy

right arrow

Business

right arrow

Health

right arrow

Recreation

right arrow

Sports

right arrow

Travel

right arrow

Top Stories

Winter Weather

When will the polar vortex send Arctic air? It's complicated...

3 hours ago

Severe Weather

New FEMA tool shows risk of weather disasters in different p...

2 days ago

Weather Forecasts

How's the weather shaping up for Inauguration Day?

3 hours ago

Pandemic woes for artists that rely on outdoor festivals

2 days ago 1:38

Podcast: Busy week ahead

More Stories

Featured Stories

Top-rated women's thermals to keep you warm in the cold What is the ideal house temperature when it gets cold? AccuWeather School: How can cars float in floodwaters?
World Chevron right
North America Chevron right
United States Chevron right
Virginia Chevron right
Ashburn
Company
Proven Superior Accuracy About AccuWeather Digital Advertising Careers Press Contact Us
Products & Services
For Business For Partners For Advertising AccuWeather APIs Podcast
Apps & Downloads
iPhone App Android App See all Apps & Downloads
Subscription Services
AccuWeather Premium AccuWeather Professional
More
AccuWeather Shop AccuWeather Ready Business Health Hurricane Leisure and Recreation Severe Weather Space and Astronomy Sports Travel Weather News Weather Blogs Winter Weather
AccuWeather Downloads Facebook Twitter AccuWeather TV
Company
Proven Superior Accuracy About AccuWeather Digital Advertising Careers Press Contact Us
Products & Services
For Business For Partners For Advertising AccuWeather APIs Podcast
Apps & Downloads
iPhone App Android App See all Apps & Downloads
Subscription Services
AccuWeather Premium AccuWeather Professional
More
AccuWeather Shop AccuWeather Ready Business Health Hurricane Leisure and Recreation Severe Weather Space and Astronomy Sports Travel Weather News Weather Blogs Winter Weather
AccuWeather Downloads Facebook Twitter AccuWeather TV
© 2020 AccuWeather, Inc. "AccuWeather" and sun design are registered trademarks of AccuWeather, Inc. All Rights Reserved.
Terms of Use | Privacy Policy | Cookie Policy | TAG Disclosure | Do Not Sell My Data checkmark Confirmed Not Selling Your Data

We have updated our Privacy Policy and Cookie Policy.

I Understand

Get AccuWeather alerts as they happen with our browser notifications.

Notifications Enabled

Thanks! We’ll keep you informed.

FEEDBACK