Summer is lightning season. The San Juan National Forest Durango office warns that no place outside is safe when thunder storms are in the area. If you hear thunder, lightning is close enough to strike you.

If you hear thunder, they advise going immediately into a substantial building with electricity or plumbing, or an enclosed metal-topped vehicle with the windows closed. They advise staying inside for at least 30 minutes after the last sound of thunder.

Indoor lightning safety includes:

Stay off corded phones, computers, and other electrical equipment that puts you in direct contact with electricity.Avoid plumbing, including sinks, baths, and faucets.Stay away from windows and doors, stay off porches.Don't lie on concrete floors, don't lean against concrete walls.What to do if you are outside with no safe shelter anywhere nearby:

Immediately get off elevated places such as hills, mountain ridges or peaks.Never lie flat on the ground.Never shelter under an isolated tree.Never use a cliff or rocky overhang for shellter.Immediately get out of and away from any water.Stay away from anything that can conduct electricity, such as barb wire fences, power lines, or windmills.Lightning often strikes the same place repeatedly, especially if it's tall, pointy, and isolated. The Empire State Building is hit almost 100 times a year.

Being under a tree is the second leading cause of lightning casualties.

Lightning can strike more than three miles from the center of a thunder storm, far outside the rain or thunder storm cloud, and "bolts from the blue" can strike 10 to 15 miles from a thunder storm.

It's the metal roof and sides of a vehicle that provide protection, not the rubber tires. Don't lean against the doors though. Open venicles or vehicles with fiberglass shells do not provide protection.

Crouching down won't make you any safer if you are caught outside. See paragraph 2.

Tips that might slightly reduce your risk are at http://www.lightningsafety.noaa.gov/safety.shtml.