Weather myths and facts provided by the National Weather Service:

¢ Myth: You can outrun a tornado in your vehicle.

Fact: An automobile is the worst place to be in a tornado. Sure, you can drive 80 mph and maybe outrun a tornado. But consider: You might not know which way it is going; speeding can be dangerous; and you have to follow roads, but tornados don’t.

¢ Myth: The best place to be during a tornado is in the southwest corner of a building or basement.

Fact: The safest place is in an interior room on the north side of the building or basement. The theory was that the debris would be blown to the northeast section of the building over persons seeking shelter in the southwest corner. However, the portion of the building toward the approaching tornado is always the worst location and tornadoes generally, but not always, come from the southwest.

¢ Myth: Rubber tires on your automobile (or rubber-sold shoes) insulate you from lightning strikes.

Fact: It’s the steel in the automobile which can provide you with protection. Lightning will take the easiest path between two points, and air is a good insulator to electricity, almost as good as rubber. When lightning strikes the roof of a car, the easiest path to the ground is through the outside metal skin surrounding the vehicle, not through it.

¢ Myth: Lightning never strikes twice in the same place.

Fact: Lightning repeatedly strikes the same objects year after year. Tall structures, such as the Empire State Building and the Sears Tower, get hit many times a year by lightning, as do mountain tops and radio-television antennas. The Empire State Building is struck by lightning an average of 23 times a year, and during one thunderstorm the building was struck eight times in 24 minutes.

¢ Myth: A person struck by lightning retains an electric charge and should not be touched.

Fact: This is not true – you can and should administer first aid to a victim as soon as possible. However, make sure the victim was struck by lightning and not by a downed wire due to a storm. If a wire is touching the person, then he or she may still carry an electrical charge and should not be touched, or you, too, could become electrocuted.