How close have you been to lightening?

dd74 · 10-17-2005, 10:12 AM

So it's raining here in SoCal. Well, rain isn't exactly the way to put it: big lightening and thunder, plus large periods of strong downpours. All that's missing are winds.

I was getting in my vehicle this morning and hear: Ssssssst...then CRACK! and KA-BOOM! about what seemed like 100 feet above me. It was like a bomb went off. I looked around for burning structures, smoke, fire, chaos, etc., but it was lightening - lightening that evidentially came very close to me, or so it seemed...

I even smelled a bit of electricity (for lack of a better word).

I don't know if I was close to being hit by a bolt, but for all intents and purposes, the entire event seemed much nearer than I've experienced before.

So, has any of you guys been close to lightening, or even hit by lightening?

tabs · 10-17-2005, 10:18 AM

I think you should buy some Lotto Tickets....

Drago · Drago's Garage

I've been about 70-80 feet from a strike. Similar experience as you describe.

IROC · IROC's Garage

I was at football practice in high school once when someone said, "Hey Coach, your hair is standing straight up in the air!". We took off running just as the loudest crack of thunder exploded. Luckily it didn't get anyone.

Mike

TerryBPP · 10-17-2005, 10:28 AM

I had a blot hit 15-20 feet away from me. Before the bolt hit the ground I could feel my arm hair stand up. For about an hour afterwards I had a killer headache. Other than that I'm fine. Other than that I'm fine. Other than that I'm fine.

masraum · 10-17-2005, 10:32 AM

I was in the boy scouts camping and the guy in the next tent (one of the leaders) got hit, he was about 20ft away. He was paralyzed for about 30 min afterwards. The next morning he had a burn on his hip where his knife had been. There were several holes melted in the bottom of his tent, his wedding band had 2 poc marks in it. He said he saw his machette jump up in the air and flip over.

Jims5543 · 10-17-2005, 10:38 AM

I live in Florida.....

I have a friend that has been killed twice by lightning. Both times he was struck running through a parking lot in the rain into a store of some sort.

The 1st time his dad was nearby and did CPR to keep him alive until help arrived.

The 2nd time a bystander did the same.

I call him the unluckiest/luckiest man alive.

I have had close hits but nothing that made my hair stand up. Just a good scare.

tabs · 10-17-2005, 10:40 AM

Quote:

Originally posted by masraum
I was in the boy scouts camping and the guy in the next tent (one of the leaders) got hit, he was about 20ft away. He was paralyzed for about 30 min afterwards. The next morning he had a burn on his hip where his knife had been. There were several holes melted in the bottom of his tent, his wedding band had 2 poc marks in it. He said he saw his machette jump up in the air and flip over.

Now thats what you get when you play with yourself in the Boy Scouts....

speeder · speeder's Garage

I've seen it split a tree 100 feet away from me, on Sunset Blvd. in the Palisades about 1986. It's ironic since I'm from the middle of the country where T-storms are commonplace, out here they are very rare, (years between them sometimes), and the most intense one ever was here. I was driving home from Malibu w/ my younger sister who was visiting, bolts were hitting everywhere and cracking branches off of trees and starting fires, etc...

CRAZY.

Moses · 10-17-2005, 10:44 AM

One of my best friends in college was killed by a lightning strike in New Mexico. He had just finished medical school and was working as an intern at the University of New Mexico. He went for a bike ride in the desert and an unexpected electrical storm blew in. He was burned across his right shoulder, but the burn was not fatal. The lightning instantly depolarized his heart and it stopped. Had he not been alone, a quick chest thump would have probably saved him. I still miss him.

TerryBPP · 10-17-2005, 11:25 AM

Quote:

Originally posted by masraum
I was in the boy scouts camping and the guy in the next tent (one of the leaders) got hit, he was about 20ft away. He was paralyzed for about 30 min afterwards. The next morning he had a burn on his hip where his knife had been. There were several holes melted in the bottom of his tent, his wedding band had 2 poc marks in it. He said he saw his machette jump up in the air and flip over.

Wow, then I should consider myself very lucky. I was in the back yard of my Dad's ex girlfriend w/ about 5 others. It couldn't have been more than 20 ft because it struck on there side of the fence leaving a 6" spot of smoldering wet grass.

widebody911 · widebody911's Garage

When I worked for the US Forest Service, while we were in Arizona on a big fire, a guy on one of the Indian crews got hit <100' from me. He never had a chance.

singpilot · 10-17-2005, 01:23 PM

Today? Or last night?

I always cringe when I see the flash at night, knwing that I am normally the biggest stick in the marina (tallest mast). Fortunately, a cruising friend two slips down is here from one of his trips, and his mast is 10' taller than mine.

As close as some of them were last night (no delay from flash to crash), I am surprised I was not hit.

Have been hit several times while flying. Some funny stories, some hair-raising.

Drago · Drago's Garage

Quote:

Originally posted by singpilot
Have been hit several times while flying. Some funny stories, some hair-raising.

I'm all ears

motion · 10-17-2005, 01:31 PM

My folk's house in Montana got hit several years ago, while they and my sisters and brothers were home. The house was pretty much destroyed, all family members knocked unconscience and thrown around the house. Everybody's fine now, though (I think).

Moses · 10-17-2005, 01:43 PM

Quote:

Originally posted by motion
My folk's house in Montana got hit several years ago, while they and my sisters and brothers were home. The house was pretty much destroyed, all family members knocked unconscience and thrown around the house. Everybody's fine now, though (I think).

Reminds me of a true story. After a neighbors house was destroyed by lightning, two Montana neighbors decided it was time to outfit their homes with lightning rods. The first neighbor attached his rod to the top of the chimney. The second neighbor attached his rod to the top of a tall fir tree close to his house. After the next electrical storm the first neighbor lost his chimney and his roof. The second neighbor lost a tree.

Tishabet · 10-17-2005, 02:20 PM

I have been "splashed" by lightning while mountaineering. Left me a little, ahem, shaken.

sivaDseliM · 10-17-2005, 02:26 PM

Hit directly while in the shower of a home w/ bad ground that was struck. Blew me right out of the shower.

Howard Agency · 10-17-2005, 03:35 PM

How close have you been to lightening?

F/G hood, bumpers, removed heat exchangers and fan blower.

techweenie · techweenie's Garage

Damn, Howard, you beat me to it!

And, you know, CF is better for lightening...