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Nepal has a very large topographical variation; this elevation change has a major influence on lightning occurrence and human casualties. The Himalayan peaks cover the northern part of Nepal with low population density, the middle is covered by hills with intermediate density, and the southern plain with the greatest density. This study will leverage lightning detection by Vaisala’s Global Lightning Dataset GLD360 network with a recent detailed compilation of lightning casualties from 2011 through 2020. Over one million lightning strokes per year were detected from 2016 through 2020. Stroke density is least over high elevations to the north, moderate in hilly regions, and very frequent over the south. The thunderstorm season begins in March and ceases by August after the annual monsoon cycle. Of all the natural disasters, lightning has been recorded to be the second highest killer after earthquakes. The Ministry of Home Affairs reports an average of 103 lightning deaths per year. The fatality rate of 3.8 deaths million−1 year−1 is highest among the South Asian countries. Fatalities over high mountains are rare, with most casualties over the center of Nepal. Lightning Fatality Risk is not a good indicator of the fatalities that occur in a district.

This study has been carried out to test two hypotheses; whether a small metal object such as mobile phones in possession of a human body increases the chances of a direct lightning strike and whether a similar object increases the chances of a side flash. Simulations were done in COMSOL Multiphysics for a metal sphere of radius 10 mm placed at the head level of a 2 m tall human being. A five-meter-tall cylindrical lightning target of resistivity 2.75 GΩ m and 10 nΩ m were considered. The influence of the side flash increases with the size of the metal object and also as its shape deviates from the spherical dimension. The outcomes of the study confidently discard the possibility of a metal object of practically viable size on a human body to influence the direct lightning attachment process. A metal sphere of radius about 22 m or a person of height 8.5 m is required for increasing the possibility of such a direct strike. Thus, the popular public concept is firmly rejected. However, the same metal object may significantly increase the side flash probability if the victim is close to the lightning struck object or inside an unsafe shelter.

This is one of the first studies on lightning incidents that take place in the neighbourhood of Lake Victoria, the largest tropical lake in the world that borders Uganda, Tanzania and Kenya. Lightning accident statistics in the region have been documented segment wise. The number of lightning occurrences in the north-western shore and that in the north-eastern shore were compared. The region has a distinctly recognizable season with high lightning accident density which runs from May to November and low lightning accident period from December to April. August peaks in lightning incidents. Lightning-related incidents are very much prevalent during the period between May and August due to the dominant south easterlies. The study reveals that the north-western part has slightly higher lightning accidents than the north-eastern part. North-eastern part records relatively high number of lightning accidents in the morning hours whereas the north-western sector experiences the same in the afternoon hours. Many features of lightning accidents and their locations have features that are in agreement with the same observed in other parts of East Africa. Following the statistics collected and incidents observed, suitable safety measures have been recommended for the communities that reside in the shores and nearby areas of Lake Victoria.

This is one of the first studies that has been conducted in Mongolia on the distribution of lightning incidents. The study covers a 10-year period from 2004 to 2013. The country records a human death rate of 15.4 deaths per 10 million people per year, which is much higher than that of many countries with similar isokeraunic level. The reason may be the low-grown vegetation observed in most rural areas of Mongolia, a surface topography, typical to steppe climate. We suggest modifications to Gomes–Kadir equation for such countries, as it predicts a much lower annual death rate for Mongolia. The lightning incidents spread over the period from May to August with the peak of the number of incidents occurring in July. The worst lightning affected region in the country is the central part. Compared with impacts of other convective disasters such as squalls, thunderstorms and hail, lightning stands as the second highest in the number of incidents, human deaths and animal deaths. Economic losses due to lightning is only about 1% of the total losses due to the four extreme weather phenomena. However, unless precautionary measures are not promoted among the public, this figure of losses may significantly increase with time as the country is undergoing rapid industrialization at present.