Lightning strike injures 2 after MLB spring training game
By
Zachary Rosenthal, AccuWeather staff writer
Published Apr 4, 2022 11:19 AM EDT
|
Updated May 17, 2022 11:37 AM EDT
Two people were sent to the hospital with injuries after being struck by lightning in the parking lot outside of a spring training game between the New York Yankees and the reigning champion Atlanta Braves.
Both of the injured fans, a man in his 60s and a woman in her 20s who were leaving the game after the lightning delay, were sent to the hospital in stable condition, according to NBC News.
The game, which had been a 10-0 rout for the Yankees by the sixth inning, was called off due to thunderstorms in the area of Tampa's George M. Steinbrenner Field, which is the Yankee's spring training base.
At the time of the strike, which occurred around 3:45 p.m. in a parking lot near the stadium, Tampa was under a severe thunderstorm watch, and lightning had been encroaching on the stadium for at least 15 minutes, according to a tweet from Chris Vagasky, the lightning applications manager at Vaisala, a lightning research firm based in Finland.
This map, posted by lightning expert Chris Vagasky, shows that lightning began within 10 miles of the baseball stadium where the Yankees and Braves were facing off 15 minutes before strike that caused the two injuries occurred.
According to a journal article published this March in Weather, Climate, and Society, lightning is a persistent danger for baseball stadiums and the fans inside. Vagasky, who authored the study, analyzed lightning strikes at baseball games from 2016 to 2019. Vagasky discovered that roughly one of every 14 Major League Baseball games has lightning within an eight-mile distance from the stadium.
According to his study, games played in Miami and Saint Petersburg, Florida, were most likely to be played with lightning nearby, with 80 and 78 lightning games per season, respectively. Lightning games are most common in August, with just under 180 games played with lightning dangerously close from 2016-2019.
"If you’re at the ballpark and you can see lightning or hear thunder, know that it’s time to get to a lightning-safe place," Vagasky told AccuWeather, noting that people should pay attention to the forecast for storms anytime they are outside.
"Concourses will provide more protection than staying in your seat, fully enclosed areas of the park, like restrooms, club level areas or suites provide the most protection. If you’re at a local little league field or something like that, a fully enclosed metal vehicle will be the safest place," Vagasky said.
A bolt of lightning comes down from the clouds during the sixth inning of an opening day baseball game between the Washington Nationals and the New York Yankees at Nationals Park, Thursday, July 23, 2020, in Washington. (AP Photo/Alex Brandon)
Historically, Florida has been the lightning capital of the United States, meaning that it gets more strikes per square kilometer than any other state in the country. Around 14.6 million lightning strikes hit Florida in 2021 alone, with 85.99 strikes per square kilometer recorded.
Florida also leads the nation in annual lightning fatalities, with 4 people killed by lightning last year in the state, according to the National Weather Service. Lightning fatalities in the country have been trending downward over the past two decades, with 11 people killed in 2021.
On Sunday, storms brought more lightning to Florida, with four lightning strikes breaching the perimeter of the launch of NASA's Artemis 1 mega moon rocket, according to CNET. No damage was done to the launch, though, with lightning striking the lightning protection system.
For the latest weather news check back on AccuWeather.com. Watch the AccuWeather Network on DIRECTV, Frontier, Spectrum, fuboTV, Philo, and Verizon Fios. AccuWeather Now is now available on your preferred streaming platform.
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News / Weather News
Lightning strike injures 2 after MLB spring training game
By Zachary Rosenthal, AccuWeather staff writer
Published Apr 4, 2022 11:19 AM EDT | Updated May 17, 2022 11:37 AM EDT
Two people were sent to the hospital with injuries after being struck by lightning in the parking lot outside of a spring training game between the New York Yankees and the reigning champion Atlanta Braves.
Both of the injured fans, a man in his 60s and a woman in her 20s who were leaving the game after the lightning delay, were sent to the hospital in stable condition, according to NBC News.
The game, which had been a 10-0 rout for the Yankees by the sixth inning, was called off due to thunderstorms in the area of Tampa's George M. Steinbrenner Field, which is the Yankee's spring training base.
At the time of the strike, which occurred around 3:45 p.m. in a parking lot near the stadium, Tampa was under a severe thunderstorm watch, and lightning had been encroaching on the stadium for at least 15 minutes, according to a tweet from Chris Vagasky, the lightning applications manager at Vaisala, a lightning research firm based in Finland.
This map, posted by lightning expert Chris Vagasky, shows that lightning began within 10 miles of the baseball stadium where the Yankees and Braves were facing off 15 minutes before strike that caused the two injuries occurred.
According to a journal article published this March in Weather, Climate, and Society, lightning is a persistent danger for baseball stadiums and the fans inside. Vagasky, who authored the study, analyzed lightning strikes at baseball games from 2016 to 2019. Vagasky discovered that roughly one of every 14 Major League Baseball games has lightning within an eight-mile distance from the stadium.
According to his study, games played in Miami and Saint Petersburg, Florida, were most likely to be played with lightning nearby, with 80 and 78 lightning games per season, respectively. Lightning games are most common in August, with just under 180 games played with lightning dangerously close from 2016-2019.
"If you’re at the ballpark and you can see lightning or hear thunder, know that it’s time to get to a lightning-safe place," Vagasky told AccuWeather, noting that people should pay attention to the forecast for storms anytime they are outside.
"Concourses will provide more protection than staying in your seat, fully enclosed areas of the park, like restrooms, club level areas or suites provide the most protection. If you’re at a local little league field or something like that, a fully enclosed metal vehicle will be the safest place," Vagasky said.
A bolt of lightning comes down from the clouds during the sixth inning of an opening day baseball game between the Washington Nationals and the New York Yankees at Nationals Park, Thursday, July 23, 2020, in Washington. (AP Photo/Alex Brandon)
Historically, Florida has been the lightning capital of the United States, meaning that it gets more strikes per square kilometer than any other state in the country. Around 14.6 million lightning strikes hit Florida in 2021 alone, with 85.99 strikes per square kilometer recorded.
Florida also leads the nation in annual lightning fatalities, with 4 people killed by lightning last year in the state, according to the National Weather Service. Lightning fatalities in the country have been trending downward over the past two decades, with 11 people killed in 2021.
On Sunday, storms brought more lightning to Florida, with four lightning strikes breaching the perimeter of the launch of NASA's Artemis 1 mega moon rocket, according to CNET. No damage was done to the launch, though, with lightning striking the lightning protection system.
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For the latest weather news check back on AccuWeather.com. Watch the AccuWeather Network on DIRECTV, Frontier, Spectrum, fuboTV, Philo, and Verizon Fios. AccuWeather Now is now available on your preferred streaming platform.
Report a Typo