Electric shock from cold
Do you get “wiped” more often? Blame it on the crackling weather!
A phenomenon of crackling weather: When shaking hands, it can happen that a spark literally jumps over
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Almost everyone has experienced it before: You touch an object or another person and feel a slight electric shock. The weather is to blame.
It is an often painful phenomenon: electric shocks that you feel suddenly and unexpectedly as soon as you touch something. With doorknobs, shaking hands or sometimes even kissing. The so-called crackling weather is to blame.
The German Weather Service (DWD) now explains exactly what this is all about. Because the dry spring weather has a decisive influence on this phenomenon. In order for an electrostatic discharge to cause a spark, the body or the skin must first be charged. This happens more easily when the air is dry. Normally, positive and negative charges balance each other out via the air humidity.
Crackling weather favored by dry air masses
However, if the air is drier than usual, our skin is also drier and the balance does not take place. This charges the body until it is discharged when it touches another person or an object. The sparking is even more favored by the cold, since cold air can absorb less moisture than warm air, which reduces conductivity. Because very dry air masses have been flowing towards us since the end of February and it has hardly rained, the conditions for such crackling weather were favorable.
Adding to the effect is synthetic clothing rubbing together – similar to rubbing a balloon in your hair and causing it to become charged. At night you can even see sparks with such a spark, which is basically a small flash.
However, these sparks are not dangerous for people. However, you can take a few precautions to prevent them: For example, by moistening your skin with cream and avoiding synthetic clothing. Instead, you should wear cotton (or natural wool) clothing. It also helps to choose shoes with leather instead of rubber soles.
Better to avoid ventilation
In the apartment, the DWD advises putting wet clothing or a wet towel over the heater, which increases the humidity in the rooms. On the other hand, it is better to avoid airing, as this allows the dry air to penetrate from outside.
However, you can also discharge yourself simply by touching grounded objects such as a car body, lantern, heater, metal cabinet or metal pipe in contact with the ground. It is best to use a metal key that you hold against the objects mentioned, then the procedure is usually painless.
In the coming days until the middle of the week, the crackling weather will take a break in many regions. Clouds are gathering which will bring rain in some areas. This increases the humidity significantly, and the clouds also prevent frost at night. In the further course of the week, however, the high pressure returns, and then significantly drier air flows towards us again. Because there is often frost again at night, there are signs that the crackling weather will return.
source: German Weather Service