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Quoted: They didn’t die https://www.nbcnews.com/healthmain/decades-later-hair-raising-photo-still-reminder-lightning-danger-6c10791362 View Quote View All Quotes View All Quotes Quoted: Quoted: Damn I was at a park one time, National Park, can't remember, and there was a picture of two guys who kind of reminded me of Bill & Ted from the movie. Their hair was standing on end and there was a picture of them, they were both killed by lightning a few seconds later. The family allowed the picture and story to be on a poster for safety. They didn’t die https://www.nbcnews.com/healthmain/decades-later-hair-raising-photo-still-reminder-lightning-danger-6c10791362 Interesting, thanks, it has been decades so I might have remembered wrong on the death but that was the photo. |
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Quoted: The biggest thing I've learned about lightning is that it can come out of a clear blue sky. I've seen it, and it scared the crap out of me. I've been caught on golf courses in some wicked storms because I stuck around hearing thunder in the distance. No more. They say if you can hear thunder you're at risk. I believe it. View Quote Airman killed at Hurlburt Field (hand resting on on one of the main landing gear axles, bolt hit the tail) was killed by a cell six miles out at sea. Clear blue sky over the airfield. Air Force now clears the line at five miles. |
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Pines will soak up lightning strikes and live far more readily than hardwood will.
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Quoted: That was another thought. Will the tree survive? View Quote View All Quotes View All Quotes Quoted: Quoted: That tree is gone, I have seen this happen. That was another thought. Will the tree survive? ive never even heard of a tree surviving a strike until this thread. learn something everyday. |
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I have been close enough to lightning bolts to see the ionized air float away in the breeze. One time even shocked pretty good.
One particular time that sticks with me most is when I was a kid I was sitting in a parking lot talking with a friend. He was sitting in his car and I was sitting in mine while storms were rolling in. About 30 yards away was the counties dispatch antennas and the building they were attached to, A metal garage next to us and power lines near us. It was sunny with some rumbling in the distance. While talking I hear this hum, the hum steadily turned into a loud buzz. I looked at my buddy who was thoroughly confused and said to him, something is going to get struck stay in your car. the buzz subsided a little and then returned with a vengeance ( think a cicada or a camera flash charging with a million watt megaphone ). This went on for like a minute. The metal building and power lines were singing the most, The pine tree seemed to be singing a little. Then... BOOOOM! the county antenna was struck tossing fiberglass shards around. That was a rather large boom and a blinding flash. And... Still sunny around us. I have seen and been close to a lot of lightning before and after that, Up to that point, I have never heard the up charge like that in my life. |
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Quoted: That was another thought. Will the tree survive? View Quote View All Quotes View All Quotes Quoted: Quoted: That tree is gone, I have seen this happen. That was another thought. Will the tree survive? I would maybe try to use some pruning paste all along the stripped bark. Might work, might not. |
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I have had some pretty remarkable experiences with lightning.
When I was about 10 years old an old mare in the pasture behind our house was struck while she was eating. Singed spot about the size of a silver dollar perfectly between her withers (shoulders). The bolt then traveled down her front legs to the ground, the tracks were singed in her legs. She had her head down grazing and it killed her instantly, she still had grass in her mouth. I worked for the Forest Service southwest of Denver right after High School and the electrical storms could be epic. If your recognize the name “Devils Head” you know where I was. You could almost set your watch by them. We would have to set our metal tools and such on a high point and we would find a low spot like a gully and squat like a Vietnamese with our arms outstretched toward the ground. Theoretically it would allow the lightning to pas down your arms to minimize injury. Thankfully we never found out. But the lightning would pop all around us, you could feel the electricity in the atmosphere and yes, your hair will stand on end. When your hair stands up it is actually negative charge coming off of your body in what they call “leaders”. Those leaders connect with positive charge leaders in the atmosphere and you get lightning. I watched a huge pine get hit and it caused all of the moisture in the bark to instantly turn to steam and blow off of the tree. In another stile it hit the top of a cliff where a climbing rope and carabiner were running down it. The charge ran down the rope and basically vaporized it. The carabiner was fused shut. I don’t fuck around with lightning. |
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Wife and I are local weather spotters.
We've had 4 or 5 strikes come within 50 feet. Can attest its bright and loud as hell |
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My buddy and I were fishing Lake Erie right off Cedar Point. We knew we had weather coming are way. Every time we would cast we would here a crackling sound. Took a few minutes to put two and two together. Hauled ass for cover before the shit hit the fan.
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A true fact: you can fit a tree with a lightning arrester system, but almost nobody does.
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Quoted: Maybe a plastic bracket would be a better option? I have string lights around my deck too but aren’t attached to any trees. I used a 2x2 to hold one corner up. View Quote View All Quotes View All Quotes Quoted: Quoted: Hmm, I also have a metal bracket into a tree to hang my patio lights. Guess I need to rethink that. Thanks for the post. Maybe a plastic bracket would be a better option? I have string lights around my deck too but aren’t attached to any trees. I used a 2x2 to hold one corner up. That bolt of lightening just jumped half a mile across open sky...do you really think a 2" plastic bracket is going to stop it? |
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Quoted: Quoted: Quoted: Fact: Lightning can have 100 million to 1 billion volts, and contains billions of watts A typical lightning flash is about 300 million Volts and about 30,000 Amps - electrifying isn't it I'm shocked to learn this. It is enlightening. |
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Quoted: Sometimes they die fast, other times it takes a few years. It's already dead either way. View Quote View All Quotes View All Quotes |
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Quoted: Back in 1994 I was working as a assistant superintendent on a golf course. We had a strong line of storms coming in and I was out in a cart telling the crew to head in. The storm was moving a hell of alot faster than we had thought. As I was heading back up the cart path, about 300 yards from the maintenance building, a bolt hit a oak that was about halfway to the building. It blew the top off and split the trunk. All I saw was a flash of bright red and crack that rang my ears...I drove off the path into a fairway bunker behind a line of trees. The guys in the maintenance building saw the flash and then I was gone. They though the bolt vaporized me, when I recovered my senses, I got out of the bunker and returned to the maintenance building. Needless to say I was a bit rattled and told my boss I was taking the rest of the day off. View Quote You took the day off because a 150 yard away lightning strike??!! Lightweight! I was swimming in a pool and got out as soon as I heard thunder. Just chilled out on the deck deciding whether or not I should go back to my apartment. A freaking lightnng bolt hit a light that was on the deck around the pool, about 30-50ft (maybe closer, can't remember) away from me. Seconds before the strike my tongue felt tingly, then BAM!!! Bright light and a ringing in my ears. Fuuuuck!! |
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I wonder what the toughest trees for resisting/living after a lightning strike are?
Old farmer lady near home was telling us about that ragged old locust tree in her back yard. She said she and her daughter and her daughter's husband were sitting on the back porch one summer day drinking tea when a thunderstorm rolled over the mountain top. She and her daughter got up and hurried inside. The son-in-law asked why they went inside and he was told that lightning would probably strike that locust tree like it does during many of the summer storms. He laughed at them and told them lightning never strikes the same place twice. A few minutes later lightning hit that old locust tree, again, and the son-in-law just about tore the screen door off the hinges getting inside (minus his coffee cup which he'd dropped on the porch floor) but didn't quite make it before the bark and small limbs began to smack the siding/porch rails and him as they blew off the locust tree. That old locust had been getting struck by lightning several times a year for over 30 years. Looked like hell but still had green leaves/live limbs on it when she was telling us the story. |
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Is lightening AC or DC? I suspect DC. What would an inverter and battery system look like…food for thought.
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Quoted: That was another thought. Will the tree survive? View Quote View All Quotes View All Quotes Quoted: Quoted: That tree is gone, I have seen this happen. That was another thought. Will the tree survive? A tree across the street from my grandmother's house got hit, and it had that same missing bark stripe down the side. It was a huge tree. It died. I saw it get hit while watching the storm at her front door. I was five years old, and I still remember it vividly. |
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Quoted: Damn I was at a park one time, National Park, can't remember, and there was a picture of two guys who kind of reminded me of Bill & Ted from the movie. Their hair was standing on end and there was a picture of them, they were both killed by lightning a few seconds later. The family allowed the picture and story to be on a poster for safety. View Quote Years back my wife and I were going back to our hotel near Idaho. Night time and a large lightning storm rolling our way from the west. At one point we stopped on a long flat section on a back country road. We got out for a minute to stretch and so I could piss on the side of the road. We both felt tingling. The tingling would stop every time there was a lightning strike in the not too far distance. If you held your arms out you could feel the tingling build up on the hairs of your arms. We realized there was nothing else out there, it was just us and the rocks and sage, no trees, nothing. We were the tallest objects on the ground. Not good, hopped back in the truck and got on out of there. |
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Quoted: I have been close enough to lightning bolts to see the ionized air float away in the breeze. One time even shocked pretty good. One particular time that sticks with me most is when I was a kid I was sitting in a parking lot talking with a friend. He was sitting in his car and I was sitting in mine while storms were rolling in. About 30 yards away was the counties dispatch antennas and the building they were attached to, A metal garage next to us and power lines near us. It was sunny with some rumbling in the distance. While talking I hear this hum, the hum steadily turned into a loud buzz. I looked at my buddy who was thoroughly confused and said to him, something is going to get struck stay in your car. the buzz subsided a little and then returned with a vengeance ( think a cicada or a camera flash charging with a million watt megaphone ). This went on for like a minute. The metal building and power lines were singing the most, The pine tree seemed to be singing a little. Then... BOOOOM! the county antenna was struck tossing fiberglass shards around. That was a rather large boom and a blinding flash. And... Still sunny around us. I have seen and been close to a lot of lightning before and after that, Up to that point, I have never heard the up charge like that in my life. View Quote I was watching a thunderstorm from a friend’s apartment. We were all out on the third story deck watching the lightning strikes in the next neighborhood over. I heard this buzzing noise from behind us. I turned to look, and realized it was the vinyl siding. I yelled, “Everybody inside now!” as soon as I was closing the the slider, the bolt hit a tree about thirty feet away. It took about an hour for the negative image of the bolt to fade from my eyesight, and my ears to stop ringing. |
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I work with a guy that is a total asshole and he has been struck by lightning 3 times. 1 playing baseball at age 11. 2 standing next to a lake fishing age 19. I did not know him then. 3 standing on a metal ladder trimming tree limbs age 31. I truly do not understand why this guy is not dead. Hopefully God will stop giving him any more chances to turn his life around and kill him with the next round.
All of these are documented cases, he was hospitalized all 3 times. I have seen the newspaper articles from his hometown for the first 2. We worked together for the 3rd one and I got a lot of overtime because of it. |
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Quoted: I have had some pretty remarkable experiences with lightning. When I was about 10 years old an old mare in the pasture behind our house was struck while she was eating. Singed spot about the size of a silver dollar perfectly between her withers (shoulders). The bolt then traveled down her front legs to the ground, the tracks were singed in her legs. She had her head down grazing and it killed her instantly, she still had grass in her mouth. I worked for the Forest Service southwest of Denver right after High School and the electrical storms could be epic. If your recognize the name “Devils Head” you know where I was. You could almost set your watch by them. We would have to set our metal tools and such on a high point and we would find a low spot like a gully and squat like a Vietnamese with our arms outstretched toward the ground. Theoretically it would allow the lightning to pas down your arms to minimize injury. Thankfully we never found out. But the lightning would pop all around us, you could feel the electricity in the atmosphere and yes, your hair will stand on end. When your hair stands up it is actually negative charge coming off of your body in what they call “leaders”. Those leaders connect with positive charge leaders in the atmosphere and you get lightning. I watched a huge pine get hit and it caused all of the moisture in the bark to instantly turn to steam and blow off of the tree. In another stile it hit the top of a cliff where a climbing rope and carabiner were running down it. The charge ran down the rope and basically vaporized it. The carabiner was fused shut. I don’t fuck around with lightning. View Quote You have literally fucked around with lightening 100% more than I have |
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Quoted: I work with a guy that is a total asshole and he has been struck by lightning 3 times. 1 playing baseball at age 11. 2 standing next to a lake fishing age 19. I did not know him then. 3 standing on a metal ladder trimming tree limbs age 31. I truly do not understand why this guy is not dead. Hopefully God will stop giving him any more chances to turn his life around and kill him with the next round. All of these are documented cases, he was hospitalized all 3 times. I have seen the newspaper articles from his hometown for the first 2. We worked together for the 3rd one and I got a lot of overtime because of it. View Quote "Hopefully God will stop giving him any more chances to turn his life around and kill him with the next round." ETA: Added quotes to funny part that I copy-pasted. |
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with 6 of my students huddled in the target shed at the gun range
big boomer moving through brave instructor stood in the doorway like Sgt. Protector lightning struck a huge pine tree at the edge of the firing line killed that big'ol pine tread d.e.d within a year we had to have it cut down |
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Had a tree near the corner of the house get struck 30+ years ago. It jumped onto the skylight at the corner of the house. But when the tree/bark exploded it nearly went through the facia in places. Some hevy duty shrapnel if you had been close enough.
When I worked for the US Forest Service the number of trees that had been struck in East, TX with the spiral scar. I typically was an hour or more from the truck. Had to seek a low spot a few times. |
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Quoted: Not hardly. NC not listed for all lightning strikes in 2021. Think again. View Quote View All Quotes View All Quotes Quoted: Quoted: I think NC ranks up there with FL when it comes to deadly lightning. Not hardly. NC not listed for all lightning strikes in 2021. Think again. Yep, they don't rank the amateurs against the professionals. I grew up in NC, and spent nine years on the Florida panhandle. Those thunderstorms that come off the gulf late afternoon in the summer are wrath-of-God events. Pretty good drive from Ft Walton Beach to Niceville, I'd be slumped down (not that it would do any good) in my cloth-topped convertible going home because the bolts were just snapping everywhere, and this could go on for hours. Fun fact...you have a rudimentary cage around you in a hardtop as long as you're not touching metal grounded to the frame. In a convertible...not so much. |
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Quoted: Back in 1994 I was working as a assistant superintendent on a golf course. We had a strong line of storms coming in and I was out in a cart telling the crew to head in. The storm was moving a hell of alot faster than we had thought. As I was heading back up the cart path, about 300 yards from the maintenance building, a bolt hit a oak that was about halfway to the building. It blew the top off and split the trunk. All I saw was a flash of bright red and crack that rang my ears...I drove off the path into a fairway bunker behind a line of trees. The guys in the maintenance building saw the flash and then I was gone. They though the bolt vaporized me, when I recovered my senses, I got out of the bunker and returned to the maintenance building. Needless to say I was a bit rattled and told my boss I was taking the rest of the day off. View Quote Gunga... Gunga-Galunga. Big hitter that Lama. |
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Good his house did not catch fire.
Lightning can do some crazy stuff. Back on the 80s, lightning stuck a tree nextdoor to a friend's house. He and his wife were home and he thought a bomb went off...lights out. The bolt split the bark on the neighbor's tree, but also crossed over his privacy fence, blew out a basement window and went to ground through his dryer in the basement. It killed his dryer, some wiring. Also broke the concrete where an iron pipe transitioned through a basement wall. |
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Quoted: Local story from a few days ago. Grenaded this huge Cedar tree. https://katu.com/resources/media2/original/full/1600/center/80/fa446d32-57f3-4299-96c0-976e4babd4d5-TreeexplodesduringlightingstrikenearCanbyOregonClackamasCountySheriffsOfficephoto3.jpg View Quote God had it in for that particular tree. I've seen split trees, but never an exploded one. That is insane. |
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An interesting side note:
Years ago, i read a book called "The Lightning Stick". It was a compilation of written medical accounts of Indian arrow wounds from the American west in the frontier/Indian war days. The book was called The Lightning Stick because some tribes preferred bow wood that was harvested from lightening stricken trees. An outstanding book. |
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Quoted: ive never even heard of a tree surviving a strike until this thread. learn something everyday. View Quote View All Quotes View All Quotes Quoted: Quoted: Quoted: That tree is gone, I have seen this happen. That was another thought. Will the tree survive? ive never even heard of a tree surviving a strike until this thread. learn something everyday. I have a pine about 20 ft from my house that has a scar down it's full height, that is presumably from lightning. Been that way for years. I also have 2 very large pines (for Florida, and for being only 10ft away from planted pines) that got struck last year. Both dead as doornails. I think they're far enough from the house that they won't hit if if they fell in that direction...about 100ft. Had a storm moving in a couple years ago, while riding bikes in a a city park in hardwoods and pines. Lightining wasn't too close yet, and we were working on getting back to the cars, but had to go toward the storm to do that. Lightning hit between me and my buddy who was about 80 feet behind me. He was shaken, I only saw the flash, and felt the boom. I guess I've been in the middle of so many thunderstorms that I just don't worry about them that much....don't want to get struck, but they're around multiple times a week, and there isn't shit I can do about it if it chooses my house (though it's surrounded by tall trees so they're a target, but they also take the hit instead of my house about once a year). |
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Saw a drilling rig get struck once. It was insanely loud.
Lightning is actually a big concern for them. Giant metal tower, usually on a ridge (at least around here), and the worlds largest ground rod sticking out the bottom. |
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Putting metal brackets in a tree with an electric cord? Watt was he thinking?
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Awesome lighting strike on a pine ! |
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We had one at work that got into the ethernet, it was wild if I can find pics I will post. Killed everything but blew a couple wall plates to absolute shit.
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Quoted: ive never even heard of a tree surviving a strike until this thread. learn something everyday. View Quote |
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Very cool pictures. We had lightning strike a tree about 20 feet from my bedroom window. It felt like it was louder than a gun shot. My dog was scared of storms for the rest of the year after that.
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I was guarding nukes at a NATO site in Germany, 1977. Middle of the night lightning hit a tree just outside the building. Thought WWIII had started.
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I've seen it split a 4' diameter red oak all the way to the ground.
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About 2 decades ago, neighbors across the street had one of their pine trees hit with lightning. Me and my dad heard it hit, but didn't know what got hit. We went to the front door and immediately saw the tree. The only real noticeable damage it did was sheer off the bark on the path it took to ground. A couple days later, the neighbors had all 3 of their pine trees cut down. The one that got hit was obviously going to die. But they didn't want to take anymore chances so they had the other 2 cut down, as well.
And when I was younger (12 or so), I was at my grandmother's house when the neighbors had an oak tree get hit. I was standing in the kitchen looking at the tree with it got hit. I heard it, felt it, jumped about a foot in the air, damn near soiled myself, then just stood their in disbelief as to what I'd just seen. The traffic on the road came to a dead stop. After the storm passed, they went to look at the damage. It blew pieces of the tree a long way away. That tree stood there for a long time afterward. It was eventually cut down, though. |
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Had a buddy killed by a lightning strike a couple years ago. Young wife and kids. It was terrible.
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Quoted: Fact: Lightning can have 100 million to 1 billion volts, and contains billions of watts View Quote Attached File |
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