Half Dome with Lightning

[balzaccom]

Yeah, well, this is amazing: www.nbcbayarea.com/news/california/half ... s/3327580/

And yes, there is a jumble of rocks on the east summit of Half Dome known as the Cave.

[Wandering Daisy]

I read a similar article and neither said specifically when this happened. Do you know the date this occurred? I suspect it is "old news". Nevertheless, interesting.

[wildhiker]

I read a similar article and neither said specifically when this happened. Do you know the date this occurred? I suspect it is "old news". Nevertheless, interesting.

The NBC news article referenced by Balzaccom was published on September 26, 2023 (yesterday) and says the ordeal occurred "last Thursday" (Sep 21). So very new news.

[Wandering Daisy]

I found an article with more details and it did happen last Thursday. I am surprised it did not get news coverage until now. There was also the part about the women who slipped and had to be rescued. There was sleet and hail along with lightning. I would not have thought that this late in the season there would be a clog of people on the cables. I was very lucky than nobody died. I hope those struck by lightning do not suffer long term health problems.

[SSSdave]

In 1985 2 were killed by lightning after taking shelter in that same cave that made national news. Far more have gambled climbing up there during thunderstorms that attests to a lack of understanding of such danger and a general social dismissal attitude. In this era of weather forecasting, there really isn't an excuse for climbing up there during days with potential storms. Some will stubbornly gamble after making the considerable effort to reach the base of the cables because they don't understand the dangers of lightning even when advised. But are reassured if they see others choosing to climb, as in monkey see monkey do. Same thing occurs at the Mount Whitney stone hut.

Going into that cave that is at the highest point of the top indicates ignorance of lightning physics. Especially since lightning does strike that very location often. Wiser would be squatting in the lightning position with feet inside boots. There are two summits about 220 yards apart with a shallow saddle between. Squatting at the center of that southwest to northeast oriented plateau saddle even if during cold driving rain and hail is the wiser strategy.

https://caltopo.com/map.html#ll=37.7459 ... 17&b=n&a=c

Archived 1985 story:

https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm ... story.html

Two rock climbers were killed when they were struck by lightning atop famed Half Dome here, park officials said Sunday. Three others were injured, two of them critically. The five were sitting in a cavern on top of the monolith overlooking Yosemite Valley Saturday about 6:30 p.m. when a series of lightning flashes started a few small fires and struck the climbers, a spokeswoman said...

The spokeswoman said the five were part of a group of nine who came to the park Friday night. Only the five who were struck attempted the rugged hike to the top of Half Dome, she said. One of the victims was struck on the head, went into convulsions and fell 4,000 feet to his death, the spokeswoman said.

[Gogd]

I remember others died in that cave in the late sixties, and recall reading about lightning deaths on HD in the 1940s. The news caster in the OP's link stated the hikers were lucky to be in the cave, implying it was safer than out in the open. Obviously that's is not the case. Folks should read up on BC lightning safety, there are several "wise man" tips that actually increase one's risk, but also several safety tips that are counter intuitive, such as seeking refuge some distance away from a cliff is safe than ridding out a electrical storm close to the base. NOAA has a few articles on the topic, but they are by no means comprehensive. NOL, mountaineering sites and medical related sites have additional info.

Ed

[thegib]

I suppose this late in the season there was no ranger checking permits at the subdome? Of course you release the park from liability when you sign your permit but I wonder if a court might say the park incures liability if a ranger allows you to proceed into a thunderstorm?

[Wandering Daisy]

My understanding is that the group were already on top of Half Dome BEFORE the storm. When the storm rolled in, those on top started down the cables, which created a log-jam of people. Storms can pop up really quickly. I doubt a ranger at the base of the cables would have made any difference. Likely they started UP the cables before the storm.

The problem seems more of too many people on the top. And all you need to get a mess on the cables is for one person to freeze. The bigger question is if the cables should be there at all. Or that they issue too many permits. Yosemite has historically had a hands-off policy on climbing which is based largely in liability issues.

[Lenier]

I intentionally cut my trip a day short on the High Sierra Loop because of weather. Seemed primed for a nasty lightning storm. I'm very glad I pulled that day from May Lake to Merced Lake now!

[SSSdave]

Given HST is a mountain community where details of this kind of information is important to understand, instead of just adding a few snippets, have posted most of the San Francisco Chronicle article by their reporter Clare Fonstein.

It is obvious, people made some poor choices due to ignorance. Most mountain visitors even peak baggers often have poor understanding of weather. I see that all the time during thunderstorms as I am quickly moving away from ridge lines while others smiling keep hiking up. Did they get the latest weather forecast before starting that day's hike? Seeing a "low probability" as it doesn't say where or from what source, likely meant down at the bottom of the valley at 4,000 feet not atop nearby peaks or the crest where anything but zero probability in lower areas needs more consideration since higher elevations are not forecasted unless one reads the Hanford NWS technical forecasts.

When they began from either Happy Isles or Little Yosemite Valley it was sunny but doesn't say where but one can assume way lower. As they reached the base of the cables at the sub dome, it was already cloud fogging up, that indicates not sunny where they were, especially since by time they reached the top of the dome just 400 feet higher, it was raining sleeting that could not have been long. Sleet or hail is a bad sign that shows a high cumulus cloud stack into higher cold atmospheric elevations. They should have turned around or descended long before that point.

https://www.sfchronicle.com/climate/art ... 387575.php

...The day started off clear, Jordan Dean said. He and his friends typically check the weather before they set out for a hike, and he remembers seeing a low probability of rain Thursday morning as they set out to summit Half Dome.

By the time their group arrived at the subdome, a destination before the final push up Half Dome, it was slightly foggy, but there was still no rain. They climbed holding onto the cables and while it was sunny when they began the ascent, a storm was coming in as they arrived at the top. A terrifying experience lay ahead, though they did not realize it.

To reach the top of Half Dome, hikers must climb the side of the giant rock, about 400 feet, maintaining balance using metal cables on either side of them. One of Dean’s friends, Josh Van Dyke, said their group arrived at the summit of Half Dome around 12:30 p.m. Half Dome is seen in the fog in Yosemite on Sept. 21. A terrifying storm would soon move in. Dean said that as fog kept rolling in at the summit and the weather started to turn, people began descending the cables — including two of Dean’s friends.

Within about 15 minutes Dean said the skies went from overcast to rain and sleet. A group of friends was trapped atop Half Dome when a storm moved in. Dean’s friends, who were descending, told him via a two-way radio that the cables were so congested there wasn’t a lot of movement, so Dean along with Van Dyke and others decided to stay at the top and wait it out.

As Dean’s two friends headed down the cables, they heard a scream. The pair could not see what was going on, but learned a woman had fallen, Dean said. The woman fell down the north side of the mountain, hitting a rock ledge, which stopped her, other hikers told Dean. Emergency services were called and a helicopter crew came to rescue her. A group of friends was trapped atop Half Dome when a storm moved in. They took shelter in a cave, but the lightning found them. The experience was terrifying.

Dean’s two friends told him rain was running down the side of the mountain as they were descending, and it was hailing. One friend slipped but caught himself on one of the poles that anchor the cables. Both made it down, but the man who slipped cut his knee badly. Dean was still at the summit with his friends and they decided to take shelter from the rain in a rock cave, with a stranger joining to make a group of five. A group of friends was trapped atop Half Dome when a storm moved in.

Others who were at the summit when the storm came in took shelter in similar spots. As the group hid in the cave, lightning struck the rocks they used as shelter. The lightning went from one of the rocks to Dean’s knee.

“It felt like maybe a house voltage or like somebody punched me in the knee,” Dean said. Another one of his friends in the cave was also struck — the lightning went from one of the rocks to the back of his head. “It was like thunder and lightning instantly at the same time split (ting) your ears,” he said.

Lightning struck again. “The second time it struck was worse. It was way worse,” Dean said. “We saw the flashes, it was just like everywhere all at once.” After the second set of flashes, the stranger who was in the cave with them went unconscious. “He hunched over, then his body went limp and he fell to the side,” Dean said. “We were yelling for him to wake up and (one of my friends) was trying to shake him and then checked for a pulse.” Dean’s friend began to hit the chest of the unconscious man, trying to get his heart started. The man was unconscious for about a minute but eventually came to. Van Dyke was struck at the same time as the stranger and was left dazed. “We didn’t remember where we were or how we got there,” Van Dyke said of himself and the stranger.

About 10 minutes passed before Van Dyke began regaining his memory, Dean said. “He was like a zombie, he was just a shell of a person,” Dean said. Van Dyke’s hair was singed, where the lightning entered, and he later discovered it burned a hole in his sock, leaving a mark on the bottom of his foot, presumably where the lightning exited, Van Dyke said. Josh Van Dyke shows his singed sock where lightning struck it atop Half Dome in Yosemite on Sept. 21. The man who lost consciousness regained his sense of what was going on within about 20 minutes, Dean said. “It was scary not knowing if lightning was going to strike again or how bad. There was nowhere to go and nothing we could do about it. That was terrifying,” Dean said.

After about 30 minutes in the cave, the rain subsided and the group ventured out and joined others who had been stuck at the summit during the storm. It was drizzling and the rocks were still wet, but all of them decided to head down. Dean said his group came across a group of women who had stopped on the cables mid-descent during the storm. “They were so scared and they hadn’t been moving,” Dean said. The women were struggling and their shoes did not seem to have a lot of grip, Dean said. He told the women to stay where they were and wait for a rescue team to help.

“One of the girls said she felt like her shoes were more grippy and she was going to go for it,” Dean said. “…We were just slowly going down and we heard a scream and looked as she kind of lost her grip and hit this pole and bounced out to the side and slid.” She slipped down about 20 or 30 feet, said Van Dyke, who also witnessed the fall. The woman slid down the south side of the cables, until she hit a rock ledge, saving her from falling all the way down Half Dome, Dean said. “She (was) sliding fast and she hit it really hard and her body didn’t move for a minute,” Dean said. Dean said everyone on the cables was screaming helplessly as the woman fell.

A rescue worker who had been there to save the other woman who fell attended to the second woman, Van Dyke said. Dean said by the time he reached the bottom of the cables he could see the second woman was sitting up, though she was shaking and it appeared the rescue worker put a brace on her. “Seeing the second girl fall right in front of us, we all saw her slide down, it really goes to show how serious the situations are, how big and dangerous these mountains can be if you’re not prepared,” Dean said.