Welcome MikeD! There was an article in On The Water this month about lightning. Here are a couple of facts I did not know:
The count how long it takes for thunder to sound off after seeing the lightning is not as I believed. You take the number of seconds you count and divide by 5 (10 seconds is only 2 miles away)
not 10 miles like I thought.
It is not safe to go back out until at least a 1/2 hour after the last lightning.
If your rod starts buzzing that is because it is leaking charge and is how lightning connects with the ground. A difference in the amount of positively charged particles between the ground and the storm clouds. The positively charged particles from the ground are climbing through your rod looking to connect with the storm cloud.
There is no safe place outside, crouching doesn't work, you need to seek shelter and not put yourself in the position to be caught outside far from shelter.
So stay safe out there.