Your mom was right — it’s unsafe to shower during a thunderstorm
AI-generated summary reviewed by our newsroom.
- Showering during storms risks electrocution.
- Other indoor lightning threats include corded phones and electrical devices.
- Lightning-related injuries include burns, trauma, heart attacks and skin lesions.
Your parents may have warned you as a kid to not take a shower during a thunderstorm. Is that fact or fiction?
North Texas has seen its fair share of rain over the month, including a stormy Memorial Day with 2.15 inches recorded at Dallas Fort Worth International Airport. As of May 27, the region has recorded 4.46 inches of rain for the month, per National Weather Service Fort Worth data.
Say it’s raining and lightning outside, but you want to take a shower. Is that safe? Here’s what to know.
Is it safe to shower during a thunderstorm?
No, it’s not. The NWS says to avoid showering during a thunderstorm.
If lightning strikes a building, the lightning can travel through the wiring and plumbing of the building that is struck, and you run the risk of electric shock or fatal electrocution. This is why the NWS recommends to keep away from plumbing and electrical equipment, such as dishwashers and washing machines, during a thunderstorm.
Here are a few other things to avoid indoors during a thunderstorm:
- Corded phones: These are one of the leading causes of indoor lightning injuries. Cordless and cell phones are fine to use.
- Doors and windows: The NWS says it’s best to be in an interior room during a thunderstorm.
- Cords or electrical equipment: Any device that uses electricity is open to a lightning strike, including computers, televisions and household appliances.
- Concrete surfaces: Lightning can travel through metal bars or wires in concrete.
How often does lightning strike people?
On average, about 300 people a year are struck by lighting.
Last year, there were 12 lightning fatalities nationwide, according to data from the National Lightning Safety Council. Two of those fatalities were reported in Texas — one in Bryan and another in an area of Montgomery County.
So far this year, there have been two reported lighting fatalities in as many states — Mississippi and North Carolina.
How does a lighting strike impact the body?
A lighting strike can cause of a number injuries.
About 10 percent of people struck by lightening die because of a heart attack, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Other lightning-related injuries include burns, eye injuries, skin lesions, blunt trauma, muscle injuries and neurological syndromes.
A direct strike is often fatal, but that’s not the only way one can be injured by lightning, per the CDC. Here’s a few others:
- Contact injury: Lightning strikes an object, such as a vehicle or metal pole the person is touching.
- Side flash: Lightning splashes or bounces off an object onto a person.
- Ground current: Lighting strikes the ground near a person and the ground current moves from the strike point through the ground onto a person.
- Streamer: When air is charged with electricity during a lightning storm, a burst of energy (or streamer), can move upward from objects near the ground.
- Blast injury: A lightning blast effect and sound may cause injuries such as ruptured eardrums.
This story was originally published May 28, 2025 at 2:49 PM.
