A dairy farmer’s shocking encounter with a lightning strike is a reminder to be safe during storms, MetService says.

The Westport dairy farm manager, who was hit by lightning early on Monday, reckoned his gumboots saved his life.

“I passed out and I woke up slumped over the bike and I couldn’t see for about five to 10 minutes,” Chris Wilson said.

Lightning strike fatalities are rare in New Zealand, New Zealand Geographic has reported, with only a few in the past 40 years or so.

A MetService spokesperson said the agency doesn’t keep records of lightning strikes on humans, but there have been recent incidents of livestock deaths from lightning.

A close-up picture of Chris Wilson's gumboot, which was damaged by lightning, and the farm in the background.

Compared to other countries, lightning doesn’t occur frequently around Aotearoa, the Ministry for the Environment has reported.

Over the past 12 months, about 22,000 lightning cloud-to-ground strikes over land have been recorded in New Zealand, MetService said.

Lightning expert University of Otago professor Craig Rodger told RNZ earlier this year that New Zealand has about 300 to 1500 times lower frequency of lightning than the typical rate in the rest of the world.

It makes the odds of “interacting” with lightning even lower, he said.

Who’s more likely to be struck by lightning?

Sorry, men, but the electrifying truth is that males are around four times more likely to be hit by lightning than women.

Farmers and ranchers who work outdoors, like the Westport dairy worker, are also more likely to be lightning victims.

The US Centres for Disease Control and Prevention has taken a deep dive into lightning deaths and also found the average age of someone struck by lightning was 37.

There were 444 lightning strike deaths in the US between 2006 and 2021, the CDC also noted.

What should you do in a storm?

Get indoors, quickly.

“Lightning is a bolt of electricity trying to find the easiest way to the ground, and the goal is for that not to be through you,” the MetService spokesperson said.

“The worst place to be during a lightning storm is outside, especially if you are the biggest thing around.

“Professions that involve a lot of outdoor work need to be particularly aware when there is a risk of thunderstorms. Similarly, for people enjoying the outdoors, if you hear thunder head indoors.”

The National Emergency Management Agency also offers advice on what to do during a lightning storm:

“It’s always good to be able to reinforce the importance of heading indoors, don’t shelter under trees and if you can’t get indoors get low,” the MetService spokesperson said.

-RNZ