Lightning Fatality in RMNP

[Alpineair]

http://www.coloradoan.com/story/news/lo ... /12552145/" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

Condolences to the family and speedy recovery to the injured.

[Phill the Thrill]

Just awful news.

http://www.thedenverchannel.com/weather ... ional-park" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

[SikYou]

Crazy.

[bob863]

my wife and I are going to be bicycling Trail Ridge road on Sat. 7/12....we plan on getting a very early start...we plan to get up to the "Rock Cut - 12,000 feet"..
if conditions look threatening, you can bet we'll be blitzing back down the road.....

[JasonFTC]

I was driving through RMNP from grand lake back to the front range today. The family and I stopped near the rock cutout on trail ridge road cause there were a few bighorns lurking about. The clouds dropped in so fast it was scary. One bolt of lightning hit just a little south of us and thunder was simitanious. Got back in the car in an instant and started making my way back down the road. People were still standing out there on the rock walls and cliffs taking photos as this was going on.

It was a real eye opener how fast this could happen.

But reading this story it sounds like it happened a few hours before we came through.

[wrxpilot]

Honestly, I'm not surprised. We drove through there yesterday (day before this accident), and despite a building storm above treeline the tourists were walking around oblivious. We were well beyond out comfort zone and stayed in the car. Oddly, I was wondering why there weren't more lightning related incidents before this happened.

[iholdthepain]

I once saw an Asian couple as I was driving down on TRR. A storm was rolling in. The lady was standing on a rock, holding an umbrella high in the air (lightning rod), and her hair was sticking straight out in all directions from the ions in the air. Her husband was taking her picture, and they both thought it was a hilarious photo op.

We're all just a bunch of Bozos walking this planet, until we're not.

[franklin411]

Another fatal strike occurred today, more or less in the same place as yesterday's strike. IIRC, there was a strike there when I was in the park last year too.

"The man killed in Saturday's incident was not identified. The victims were struck by lightning at Rainbow Curve, where visitors often gather to watch for rainbows after rainstorms."

http://www.reuters.com/article/2014/07/ ... 1H20140713" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

[bob863]

fyi...my wife & i were able to bicycle Trail Ridge road today....our thoughts and prayers go out to all the people who were hit by lightening today and yesterday....
we started from the Deer Junction (the intersection of US 34 and US 36 inside the park) at 8:15 AM. I was able to bicycle the 12.8 miles up to the Rock Cut (12,000') in 2 hours (yes, at 65 I'm slow...)...at 10 AM the clouds were already starting to look menacing....

[hilo21]

Terrible news, condolences to all the families involved.