It is strongly recommended to avoid showering during a thunderstorm, as the risk of electrocution, while statistically low, is real and potentially severe. Lightning is a discharge of electrical energy searching for the path of least resistance to the ground. This powerful electrical surge can travel through the utility systems connecting your home to the outside world, creating a hazard. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) advises against all water-based activities during an active storm due to this danger.
How Lightning Enters the Home
A common misconception is that being inside offers complete protection from lightning; however, approximately one-third of all lightning-related injuries occur indoors. Lightning does not need to strike a house directly to cause harm, as a strike on or near the structure can send a dangerous surge through connected utility lines. The charge follows conductive pathways that connect the outdoors to the interior of the building.
These pathways include electrical wiring, landline phone cords, cable television lines, and the plumbing system. The extensive network of utility connections acts as a superhighway for the electrical current. Even if the strike occurs a distance away, the surge can travel along these buried or overhead lines and enter the home.
Why Plumbing Systems Pose a Risk
The plumbing system is a conductor of lightning energy because it is directly connected to the ground. Metal pipes, such as copper or galvanized steel, are excellent electrical conductors and can easily transmit a lightning surge from the strike location outside. When a person is showering, they are in contact with a metal fixture, like the showerhead or drain, which is connected to this conductive piping network.
Even in modern homes utilizing plastic pipes like PEX or PVC, the risk is not entirely eliminated. Tap water itself is not pure and contains dissolved minerals and impurities that make it conductive to electricity. This mineral-rich water stream can act as a conductor between the metal fixtures and the grounded plumbing system. The showerhead, faucets, and valve handles are almost always metal, and these fixtures can become energized if a lightning surge travels through the water.
When a person is in the shower, they unintentionally complete a circuit, becoming the final link in the path to the ground. The resulting electrocution is not from a direct strike, but from a side flash or surge traveling through the plumbing system and through the body. This makes activities like showering, bathing, or even washing dishes among the most hazardous indoor actions during a thunderstorm.
Essential Storm Safety Measures
To protect yourself from lightning traveling through your home’s infrastructure, avoid all contact with water and electrical sources during a storm. This means refraining from showering, bathing, or running water. You should also stay off corded phones and avoid using anything plugged into a wall outlet, such as computers or electronic devices.
The National Weather Service recommends waiting a minimum of 30 minutes after the last sound of thunder before resuming normal activities. If you can hear thunder, you are close enough to be struck by lightning, and the danger persists even after the heavy rain has passed. Staying away from windows, doors, and concrete walls or floors, which may contain metal reinforcement bars, further reduces the risk of indoor contact with a lightning surge.