Viral video shows boat in Boston being struck by lightning
"When Thunder Roars, Go Indoors!" the Boston/Norton, Massachusetts, branch of the National Weather Service said in the caption of a retweeted video from @WeatherNation that shows a boat being hit by lightning. The video has since gone viral.
In the midst of thunderstorms in Massachusetts on Saturday, a bystander captured the moment. Harry Minucci was recording when lightning struck a docked boat at the Columbia Yacht Club in Boston.
As soon as the bolt hits, sparks fly and the bolt creates what appears to be an explosion on board.
Luckily, according to CNN, no one was on board when lightning struck the sailboat.
The likelihood of a boat being hit by lightning in the United States is about 1 in 1,000, according to BoatUS, which did a study published in 2017 based on their Marine Insurance Claims.
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The chances, though, rise and fall based on several factors.
Location and the type of boat you own make a difference in terms of the odds that lightning strikes.
For example, if you own a boat in Florida, the chances are much greater than if you own a boat in Idaho. Florida accounted for one-third of all lightning incidents in BoatUS' report while Idaho, unsurprisingly, reported zero incidents.
Sailboats and powerboats are the boats most frequently struck by lightning, with the chances being 4 in 1,000 for sailboats and 5 in 1,000 for powerboats overall, according to BoatUS.
Lightning is an unpredictable force, BoatUS said. It's impossible to tell when lightning might strike a boat.
"While you can mitigate the damage from a lightning strike, there is nothing you can do to prevent one," Charles Fort wrote in the BoatUS article.
Follow Morgan Hines on Twitter: @MorganEmHines