MYTH: Lightning doesn't strike water.

By DAN ROBINSON

Editor/Photographer

From Dan: How the crime of copyright infringement took $1 million from me and brought down my business.

I've lost more than $1 million to copyright infringement in the last 15 years, and it's finally brought an end to my professional storm chasing operation. This page is a detailed account of the biggest threat to my photography and video operation that I had to battle daily to just barely survive, and eventually could not overcome. It's a problem facing all of my colleagues as well.

TRUTH: Lightning can and does strike anywhere, including on water! When a thunderstorm's level of electrical charge grows large enough, a lightning flash is going to occur, no matter what the storm is situated over.

Every year, many people are struck by lightning while boating and swimming on rivers, lakes, and oceans. Fish are often killed in the immediate vicinity of a strike to water. Many photographs have been obtained of lightning striking water.

READ: More Weather Myths | Weather Library Home

Storm chaser and photographer Dan Robinson

About the Author: Dan Robinson has been a storm chaser, photographer and cameraman for 33 years. His career has involved traveling around the country covering the most extreme weather on the planet including tornadoes, hurricanes, lightning, floods and winter storms. Dan has been extensively published in newspapers, magazines, web articles and more, and has both supplied footage for and appeared in numerous television productions and newscasts. He has also been involved in the research community, providing material for published scientific journal papers on tornadoes and lightning.