Hunters and anglers spend plenty of time thinking about the dangers they might encounter outdoors.
We watch for venomous snakes, keep an eye on changing water conditions and pay attention to the people around us in remote areas. But one of the most dangerous threats can arrive from miles away—and sometimes with very little warning.
Listen to “Death From Above: Squall Lines, Lightning & Deadly Storms” on the Dark Outdoors® podcast:
Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/episode/44bIIC7heQdgfqdCXf8IRx?si=1e966a1743de421b
Apple Podcasts: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/death-from-above-squall-lines-lightning-deadly-storms/id1630809603?i=1000786191521
Lightning and fast-moving severe thunderstorms can transform a fishing trip, hike, hunt or day on the water into a life-threatening situation in minutes.
On this episode of the Dark Outdoors® podcast, I reached into my interview archives for a conversation with legendary Southeast Texas meteorologist Greg Bostwick. I recorded the interview several years ago, but it has never before aired on Dark Outdoors.
Bostwick spent decades watching Gulf Coast weather develop and warning the public about everything from hurricanes to violent thunderstorms. In this conversation, however, the focus is squarely on the kinds of weather that can put outdoorsmen in immediate danger.
We discuss lightning, squall lines and severe thunderstorms and how quickly conditions can deteriorate when someone is fishing open water, hiking exposed terrain, camping or hunting far from substantial shelter.
That last part is important.
Most of us have experienced a summer afternoon when blue skies suddenly gave way to towering thunderheads. Along the Gulf Coast, storms can build with incredible speed. On the water, the situation can become especially dangerous when lightning, high winds and rapidly increasing waves arrive together.
The same principle applies on land. A hunter in an open field, an angler standing along a shoreline or a hiker on elevated terrain may suddenly find that the place that seemed perfectly safe an hour earlier has become one of the worst possible places to be during a thunderstorm.
Bostwick’s perspective is especially valuable because he spent so much of his career studying the weather patterns familiar to Texas outdoorsmen. The conversation isn’t about being afraid to venture outside. It’s about recognizing how quickly the atmosphere can change and respecting weather as seriously as we respect any other potential outdoor hazard.
I’ve covered dangerous wildlife, criminal activity and unusual encounters through Dark Outdoors, but sometimes the threat isn’t hiding in the brush or waiting down a dark trail.
Sometimes it comes from the sky.