Environment Canada wants to dispel some myths about lightning. This is lightning safety week. Terri Lang, a Warning Preparedness Meteorologist, says one misunderstanding is that lightning usually hits people directly.

"What usually happens is something else is struck, like maybe a tree or a fence post, and it splashes towards you and you're sort of sideswiped by this lightning, or the current from the lightning goes through the ground and, because you're in contact with the ground, you're absorbing the electricity associated with that lightning. So people aren't necessarily directly struck, but actually, side struck, and that's the myth that we're trying to bust."

Secondly, she says rubber boots will not protect you. Thirdly, Lang says tree cover is not a safe place to wait out the storm. She adds the safest places to be during a thunderstorm are in an enclosed building or in a car with the windows rolled up.

Lang says another misunderstanding about lightning is that it's only dangerous when the storm clouds are directly overhead.

"Studies have shown that one-third of injuries and fatalities from lightning occur before the storm hits and one-third occur after the storm hits, so people aren't taking shelter soon enough and they're also leaving shelter too early. There've been documented cases of lightning travelling over 100 kilometres away from a cloud. Certainly, that is generally not the case but it can spit out over 10 kilometres away from a cloud. So, when you see lightning or you can hear thunder, it's time to seek shelter, not when the storm hits. We use the catchphrase, "When thunder roars, go indoors." So if you can see it, if you can hear it, it's time to take shelter, not when the storm hits. And then we ask that people wait 30 minutes after the last rumble of thunder that they can hear before they go outside."

Lang says a final misconception is that there is no danger from lightning if it’s not raining. This is not true.