Lightning Story (happened tonight)

[Jarwa]

We're sitting at the table eating supper at 8:20 pm during a bad thunderstorm. What better to do during a thunderstorm than eat supper? Anyway, out of nowhere comes a popping sound and I see sparks flying in the living room which is about 20 feet to the right from where I was sitting. Also, one of the three light bulbs in the light fixture above the kitchen table blows at the same time.

What's really freaky about it is that my wife felt the shock of the lightning. She said it started in her forearms and went out through her thumbs, and she also felt it leaving through her nose because her nose was tingling, as was her forearms and hands. She happened to be holding a fork when it hit. I guess the lightning went either through her, out the fork and to the bulb, or through the bulb then the fork and then to her. My twelve-year-old sister in law said lightning travels form the ground up, so, according to her, the lightning must have passed through my wife and then to the light bulb that blew. Her forearms and her hands tingled for about an hour after this happened. She said the shock felt like when a wall socket shocks you. She seems to be just fine now (midnight).

I never could find where the sparks came from. She saw the flash of the sparks too, but she was facing away from them. I just saw them from the corner of my eye. Nothing got fried, though, except the one light bulb directly above the kitchen table. We never did lose power or cable, either.

Pretty strange, I guess. We've never had lightning enter the house.

Just thought I would share that.

 

[Colt45]

weird..

 

[Sluggo]

Better call Art Bell, the silent helicopters are known to swarm after lightning like that.

 

[Jfur]

A month ago, lightning struck my car during a freak storm in Hawaii. I was completely wet and somehow the left side of my body got some of that energy. I was really lucky not to get a direct hit -- there was a huge blue flash and extemely loud sound and I almost lost control of the car. Then, my body temperature was out of control for about six hours and I was sore for days. All my friends could say was "go in the bathroom and see if you glow!" Seem ok now, though.

 

[Elledan]

Jarwa, ever heard about a lightning rod? We've one too

 

[iamfried]

That's crazy. I have had that weird feeling near lighting too. It hit about 10 feet away from me and I couldn't hear for like 2-3 minutes. Thing is, I live in San Diego now, so I haven't seen lightning for like 8-9 years but I would think that if it hit your house it would pop a hole in the ceiling.
Am I just uninformed and don't know sh--, or what. My guess is I don't know sh-- because peoples houses must get hit a lot.

 

[Tiger]

Lightning FAQ

Lightning will always seek the lowest impedence path to ground. If you are in that path you're about to have a real bad day. To estimate the distance between you and the lightning count the number of seconds between flash and bang and divide by 5. 5 sec/5 = 1 mile. To be safe during a storm use the 30/30 rule. If you see lightning and the time between stroke and thunder is less than 30 seconds (6 miles) seek shelter in an enclosed building away from windows. Don't go back outside until 30 minutes has passed since the last audible thunder.

All metal cars provide some safety from lightning. The less metal in the car, or if it's a convertible all bets are off. Worst possible vehicles to be in during a lightning event are Corvette convertibles and Golf carts. The larger the vehicle the better, more metal to dissipate the energy of the strike.

I'm willing to bet that jarwa's incident was an induced surge on the power lines caused by a nearby strike, unless there was an open window somewhere. Better check all the stuff you had hooked up at the time, TV's, VCR's, computers, etc..., it sometimes takes up to a year for damaged equipment to reveal itself after a surge like that. The blown bulb proves it was in the electrical system of the house. More than likely your wife got zapped after the bulb blew.

 

[Jfur]

I learned recently that lightning comes UP from the ground... interesting...

 

[Amused]

<< I learned recently that lightning comes UP from the ground... interesting... >>



Lightning results from the attraction between positive and negative charges. As the particles within a cloud grow and interact, some become charged -- possibly through collisions. Updrafts and gravity separate the particles, leaving the upper part of the cloud positively charged, and the lower part negatively charged.

The attraction between positive and negative charges produces enormous electrical potential -- millions of volts, in fact -- both within the cloud and between the cloud and ground. Eventually the attraction between opposite charges breaks down the air's resistance to electrical flow, sparking a lightning flash.

Lightning can go from cloud to ground, ground to cloud, inter-cloud (cloud to cloud), or intra-cloud (the most common)

The most familiar and best understood type of lightning comes in the form of cloud-to-ground strikes. These strikes aren't the most common form of lightning, but because they come to ground, they are the most damaging and dangerous.

About 90 percent of cloud-to-ground flashes originate in a cloud's negative charge center, in its lower section. A charged streamer, called a stepped leader, then moves toward Earth in discrete steps of about 50 meters each, pausing about 100 microseconds between steps. This leader shoots down to meet with a positively charged streamer surging up from objects on the ground -- trees, buildings, people, etc. --at 60,000 miles per second. If the two connect, they set off a bright flash.

Sometimes cloud-to-ground strikes send a positive charge toward Earth. This positive charge typically originates from the cloud's positively charge upper region and tend to be about 10 times more energetic than negative flashes.

 

[Thump553]

Why is there no lightning in San Diego?

 

[Jarwa]

I forgot to mention that she felt real hot after the lightning passed through her.
Hot, as in her body temperature felt elevated.

 

[Jfur]

Jarwa, I found out that after electrical shock, many people either have high or low body temp -- I guess we have trouble regulating it for a while. I was &quot;hot&quot; for aboout six hours.

 

[Jarwa]

<< Better check all the stuff you had hooked up at the time, TV's, VCR's, computers, etc..., it sometimes takes up to a year for damaged equipment to reveal itself after a surge like that. >>
I only had two of four TVs and one of three VCRs plugged in at the time. They don't seem to be damaged, but I guess I'll know in a year from now.
I still can't figure out where the sparks came from. Nothing is charred, burnt, or damaged in any way. Like I said the sparks weren't even in the same room that we were in.

Out house didn't burn down last night so I guess everything is OK. The wife feels fine today, too.

My dad knows someone whose house got struck by lightning and caught on fire, but the people inside didn't know it. One of their neighbors came by and told them to get the hell out. The house ended up burning to the ground. I believe that happened earlier this year.

 

[Jarwa]

<< Jarwa, I found out that after electrical shock, many people either have high or low body temp -- I guess we have trouble regulating it for a while. I was &quot;hot&quot; for aboout six hours. >>



Interesting .... she was only &quot;hot&quot; for maybe twenty or thirty minutes. The tingling feeling in her right arm and hand (the hand she was holding the fork with) tingled for much more longer.

 

[ElPool]

<<

<< I learned recently that lightning comes UP from the ground... interesting... >>



Lightning results from the attraction between positive and negative charges. As the particles within a cloud grow and interact, some become charged -- possibly through collisions. Updrafts and gravity separate the particles, leaving the upper part of the cloud positively charged, and the lower part negatively charged.

The attraction between positive and negative charges produces enormous electrical potential -- millions of volts, in fact -- both within the cloud and between the cloud and ground. Eventually the attraction between opposite charges breaks down the air's resistance to electrical flow, sparking a lightning flash.

Lightning can go from cloud to ground, ground to cloud, inter-cloud (cloud to cloud), or intra-cloud (the most common)

The most familiar and best understood type of lightning comes in the form of cloud-to-ground strikes. These strikes aren't the most common form of lightning, but because they come to ground, they are the most damaging and dangerous.

About 90 percent of cloud-to-ground flashes originate in a cloud's negative charge center, in its lower section. A charged streamer, called a stepped leader, then moves toward Earth in discrete steps of about 50 meters each, pausing about 100 microseconds between steps. This leader shoots down to meet with a positively charged streamer surging up from objects on the ground -- trees, buildings, people, etc. --at 60,000 miles per second. If the two connect, they set off a bright flash.

Sometimes cloud-to-ground strikes send a positive charge toward Earth. This positive charge typically originates from the cloud's positively charge upper region and tend to be about 10 times more energetic than negative flashes. >>



good explanation.

one thing i find interesting about lightning: as that leader shoots down from the clouds in 'cloud to ground lightning' it often branches out, creating that pitchfork look you see in lightning alot, then when one of the branches finally connects with something, the REALLY BIG bolt of lightning travels back through that one branch.
you can see this happening if you watch lightning, or in lightning photos. there will be many branches of lightning, but one single line of lightning that is much brighter than the others.

 

[monk3y]

There's a lightning storm right now... time to try something interesting

 

[Wallydraigle]

When you are close to a lightning strike you can feel it because of induction. It gives the stuff a massive charge, and you get charged just from being close to it. That's how those glass things with the gold leaves in them detect static electricity.

I've been hit indirectly. I was building a mesanine(SP) inside a metal building, drenched with sweat, and getting rained on through a door. The storm rolls in and it gets too dark to work inside (literally, we were up crawling around on the steel and we couldn't see to get down.) So I'm leaning up against a steel column, waiting for it to get light again, and lightning hits the building. I got shocked bad. I almost pissed my pants.

 

[Croton]

you should do this right away:

check to see if your wife has any superpowers.

Can she run really fast? is she psychic?