Five young lives have been ended by lightning in less than a week. The National Weather Service says July typically marks the peak in lightning activity. It's a time when people are vacationing and are outside, and so they're vulnerable to lightning strikes.

A 16-year-old Georgia youth was riding a bicycle at a summer camp in Colorado when he was struck down on July 3. Two days later, a 19-year-old was riding a personal watercraft in South Carolina when hit. The next day, lightning killed a 23-year-old while she was jogging along the shore in Virginia Beach. On July 7, two 16 year olds died, one on a family farm in Wisconsin and another in a North Carolina beach hut, sheltering from a storm.

The Weather Service says it's important to seek shelter in a substantial building if there's thunder or the sky looks threatening. It says picnic shelters, carports, dugouts, sheds and other partially open or small structures are not safe.

Stay away from metal objects and do not seek shelter under tall isolated trees.