Closest to Zues (Lightning) you have come? ( Archived) (20)

Yep, I have a healthy fear of it myself. And if that man (woman?) in the sky has your number: Watch out!

My brother in a warm and far away land, who works at an airport, said he was struck by lighting on the tarmac and lived to tell the tale. Needless to say, I had to foot some of his medical bills. Of course, I have not seen him in person since the incident...soo.... did he just pull one on me for some fast cash?

Well if he did,,,

A close by lightning strike doesn't sound anything like thunder it sounds like a sharp crack. Not all that loud.
We were invited to dinner across the road at a neighbors house years ago. The sliding glass door was open with the screen door closed so the mosquitoes couldn't get in when we heard this crack followed by the sound of broken glass. We figured it was lightening by the flash but the broken glass? We went out to investigate and found where the bolt had hit a tree by the driveway. There was a gouge going across the gravel driveway where no gravel was left. The trail led right to one of the wheels of the car where there was a burn mark on the rim. Another burn mark on the diagonal rim and another rut in the gravel of the driveway leading to a wheel on another car. That's where the trail ended. The hood (bonnet) of the first car was littered with gravel (that was what we thought was broken glass). We estimated the bolt traveled at least 15 feet on the ground just under the gravel which blew the gravel up in the air. How do you even measure that amount of voltage?
The voltage in a cars ignition system is about 20,000 volts and it will jump a gap of about 8mm. That bolt jumped a gap of about 5,000mm, that's 625 times wider. That works out to 20,000 times 625 or 12.5 Million volts. And that's not counting the distance it traveled trough the tree OR the distance from the cloud to the tree.
It could have easily been a Billion volts or more.

For this reason I think the story of Ben Franklin flying a kite into a thunderstorm with a key hanging from it was made up because if it were true, the lightning bolt would have traveled right through that wet string and killed him. Add to that old Ben was a politician and the kite story is even less credible.

I was struck indirectly..... I was in a small building that got struck. I was touching part of the metal pipes. I woke up on the floor half way ac cross the room. Could not feel my arm or legs for 2 hours. My ears were ringing. And my wet shoes were smoking. Now I can feel static electricity really well.

2 weeks ago I was watching this crazy storm from my garage. Next thing I saw was my old wind mill (30 feet away) lit up in like a neon blue then just the loudest crack I have ever heard in my life. Oh man I almost shat myself. After the flash I had a metallic taste in my mouth and all my hairs were standing up. but that sound was so powerful and the sight was just out of this world. I actually saw the lightning break up I was so close.

next time I will just stay inside......