 |  | | | | 'Keep Watching the Skies:' NASA Weather Expert Offers Safety Tips for National Lightning Awareness Week June 19-25
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05.14.05
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Steve Roy
Marshall Space Flight Center, Huntsville, Ala.
(Phone: 256.544.0034)
Media Advisory: 05-095
What: With National Lightning Awareness Week -- June 19-25 -- approaching, one NASA lightning scientist is encouraging unwary summer swimmers, picnickers and others to keep an eye on the sky and stay safe during outdoor activities.
NASA lightning expert Dr. Dennis Boccippio, of NASA's Marshall Space Flight Center in Huntsville, Ala., warns that lightning safety should never be taken lightly. An average of 67 people are killed by lightning each year, and thousands of dollars' worth of property is damaged or destroyed, according to the National Weather Service. Boccippio and the NASA lightning team study this powerful natural force year-round -- in thunderstorms and hurricanes around the world, using equipment on Earth and in space -- to learn how lightning and severe weather interconnect, and to determine new ways to protect lives, homes and property.
Who: Dr. Dennis Boccippio, a climatologist working in the Global Hydrology and Climate Center, part of the National Space Science and Technology Center (NSSTC) in Huntsville, Ala.
When: Boccippio is available by appointment for telephone interviews, June 20-24
To set up interview: Members of the news media interested in talking with Boccippio about lightning safety and weather research conducted by NASA and its partners should call public affairs officer Steve Roy of the Marshall Center's Public and Internal Communications Office at 256-544-0034. For more information about the work of the Global Hydrology and Climate Center, visit:
http://www.nsstc.nasa.gov/ghcc
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