NORTH CAROLINA -- Each year, about fifty people are killed by lightning in the United States.

And each year, there are about 25 million lightning strikes that occur in the United States.

Your odds of becoming a victim of a lightning strike in your lifetime are one in 3000.

Lightning fatalities have actually declined in the past seventy-five years. In 1940, lightning was the number one weather-related killer. Today, lightning related fatalities fall behind weather events such as heat waves, flooding, tornadoes and wind.

This decrease in lightning deaths may be linked to improving weather technology as better thunderstorm forecasting give people an advance warning as to stormy days. Lightning safety education may also be a big contributing factor as well. Years ago, the National Weather Service coined the phrase, "When Thunder Roars...  Go Indoors!"  Between the NWS pushing this term and broadcast meteorologist also spreading the word, more people are in tuned to the dangers presented by lightning.

Bottom-line, if you can hear thunder, lightning is more than likely too close. You should drop what you're doing and go inside to a safe area immediately.

Some of the most dangerous locations to be in during a thunderstorm are open areas and areas where you are the highest object.  This includes places like sports fields, golf courses, lakes and beaches.

North Carolina currently ranks number four (tied with Arizona) for lightning related fatalities since 2009. And the greatest reason for our state's high number of lightning related incidents is because we have a lot of those areas mentioned above.

The best way to not become a lightning statistic is to be weather aware. Know the forecast. Know if there is a chance of storms in the forecast. Then keep an eye to the sky. If you see dark skies in the distance, or see towering clouds developing, be ready to move indoors at a moment's notice, at the first sign of lightning. And remember, lightning can strike up to ten or more miles away from its parent thunderstorm. You've heard the term "bolt from the blue"?

Just remember, lightning safety is pretty easy if you follow the phrase "when thunder roars, go indoors!"