Are thunderstorms more common on land or at sea? Given that ships have long been pointy objects sticking out of a relatively flat sea, why do we not tend to hear about lightning as one of the main hazards in nautical history?

Flynn_17

From what I understand, thunderstorms build up over the sea by picking up the water and then with the movement of the hot and cold fronts, but it isn't until they hit land that they actually turn into thunderstorms. As it's more a cloud thing than an air movement thing, they act differently to hurricanes and typhoons. Nov 25 05, 12:40 PM

smeogalla

Having been on th eopen sea on a yacht, I can assure you it is not a good place to be in an electrical storm. Masts can and do get struck as you say gmack, they stick up on the air a wee bit and most sailors will divert a long way to avoid a thunderstorm at sea. We tend to study the weather patterns intently before departure and if storms are likely we don't leave, or if they build while at sea we head for a port if possible otherwise one just tries to avoid them and prays. Nov 30 05, 12:46 AM