Lightning strikes on the horizon in Pacifica, CA. Photo: Sergio Casillas//Unsplash
Lighting is a powerful thing. Enormous bolts of electricity raining down from the heavens, moving so fast they literally tear the air around them. Ear-splitting claps of thunder accompany a reaching, deadly finger of God that’s hotter than the surface of the sun. As Paris Hilton said, “that’s hot.” It’s all very biblical. But if you see lightning while surfing, is it really dangerous? Of course it is. It’s lightning. Get off the beach and get inside.
Despite the rarity of actually getting struck by lightning, it can happen. Infrequently, but it can. Recently, an Olympic-hopeful and surfer named Katherine Diaz Hernandez was killed by lightning while surfing on a beach in El Salvador. Back in 2014, a surfer was killed and 12 others were injured when lightning hit near the Venice Beach Pier. Surfing during a storm can be exciting, but it is definitely not recommended.