A 19-year-old man died on Friday in a lightning storm while huddled with nine other people inside a metal structure atop a mountain in Utah, the authorities said.
The man was at the summit of the peak, Mount Timpanogos, when scattered storm cells moved through late Thursday and early Friday, the authorities said.
The man, who has not been publicly identified, was with the others inside a structure known as the Tin Shack when the storm struck, said Sgt. Ray Ormond, the public information officer with the Utah County Sheriff’s Office.
The shack, a well-known spot atop the peak, was built out of steel in 1927 as a lookout house, according to The Daily Herald in Provo, Utah.
Lightning struck it, leaving nine people with minor injuries, Sergeant Ormond said. Hikers alerted the authorities at about 6 a.m.
The 19-year-old man was critically injured and was pronounced dead on the mountain, the sheriff’s office said in a news release.
There were 517 lightning-related deaths from 2006 through last year, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Nearly 90 percent of people who are struck by lightning survive, the C.D.C said.
The storm system on Friday was not abnormal, said Darren Van Cleave, the meteorologist-in-charge at the National Weather Service office in Salt Lake City.
The severe weather arrived during Utah’s monsoon season and in conjunction with a jet of moisture from the west, Mr. Van Cleave said, adding that each cell that passed through the area had been filled with lightning.
“It was a very electrically active day,” he said.
Mount Timpanogos, which is more than 11,740 feet tall and sits about 50 miles southeast of Salt Lake City, features two main routes to the top, each a little more than 14 miles round-trip, said Jim Steenburgh, a professor of atmospheric science at the University of Utah.
Many local residents trek to the summit to bask in the expansive views of the Utah Valley, often at either sunrise or sunset, he said. The popular climb offers glimpses of wildlife and waterfalls while ascending steep terrain.
Hikers climb on an exposed ridge line to reach the peak, he said, leaving them few places to take shelter until a storm passes.
Experts recommend that recreationists check the weather forecast before heading out. Conditions can change rapidly in the mountains, the sheriff’s office said, noting that “lightning can strike well away from the main area of rainfall.”
If thunder is rumbling nearby, the authorities advise moving away from exposed ridgelines and heading for a safe location. People should also refrain from touching materials that can conduct electricity, such as metal, utility lines, water and plumbing, according to the C.D.C.
Small, exposed structures cannot protect a person from lightning.
“The safest locations are substantial, fully enclosed buildings or an enclosed, hard-topped vehicle,” the sheriff’s office said.
