Why is everyone so afraid of lighting?

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Maybe i'm ignorant and probably should keep it that way as one less thing to worry about, but it is my understanding the lighting likes tall objects. So when you're surrounded by a bunch of tall objects, are you not basically the shortest thing standing?
 
Lighting can do funny things that really defy logic. While lightning had a tendency to hit taller objects, it's not always so.
I saw some high-speed photos years ago that show lightning starts from the clouds toward an object on earth, but a couple of hundred feet before the lighting hits an object, hundreds of small bolts go from the earth toward the descending bolt and they meet in mid-air.
 
Originally Posted By: motor_oil_madman
Maybe i'm ignorant and probably should keep it that way as one less thing to worry about, but it is my understanding the lighting likes tall objects. So when you're surrounded by a bunch of tall objects, are you not basically the shortest thing standing?


I'm not afraid of lighting but lightning is a different story. If you've ever been close enough to the strike zone to feel your hair stand up as the electrons charge or whatever happens you wouldn't ask the question. I've experienced that twice, once in a mobile home and once while camping in the woods. Both near misses obviously but knowing you're about to be electrocuted is no fun. It doesn't have to make a direct hit to cause great bodily harm.

That said, it should be pretty far down on your list of concerns.
 
Originally Posted By: motor_oil_madman
I always figured it would be a good way to go. lol

I think alot of guys hit, end up with their junk blown off and live a few more days with 3rd degree burns over the rest of their body...
Electricity through your body is no fun IMO, 110v or the electric fence is as close as I want to getting hit by lightning.
 
I had lightning strike about 40' away from me when I was 15 years old. It left me blinded and deaf for a while. All the hair on my body was standing up and I smelled like I had leaned over a camp fire all night. I was walking in the direction of where it hit. It split a big tall tree all the way to the ground. Scared of it? Yep I am.
 
You must be a short guy standing next to your tall friends.
It get's the tall guys first.
That's why we run like scared rabbits.

LOL
lol.gif
 
Where I work, there used to be an employee who was at the park with his wife and newborn on a fairly average day. The guy straight up was hit by lightning and died right away. It's not like they were hanging around outside during a thunderstorm with pouring rain.

We honor his family each year during the company meetup.

Talk about a tragic death. If there is proof of a vengeful God, then that'd be it.
 
I have seen a small plane in between two larger ones get struck on the ground. Being shorter is no guarantee of being safe.
 
Thunder and lightning, very very frightning. I've been close to a strike, I don't know where it hit, but I sure felt like I was in the middle of a big event, the air was just charged, sound heightend, pretty scary at the time.
 
Originally Posted By: IndyIan
Originally Posted By: motor_oil_madman
I always figured it would be a good way to go. lol

I think alot of guys hit, end up with their junk blown off and live a few more days with 3rd degree burns over the rest of their body...
Electricity through your body is no fun IMO, 110v or the electric fence is as close as I want to getting hit by lightning.



I’ve seen a few lightning accidents in the hospital I worked at. Most of them have the entrance and exit wounds. The burns are on the inside of the body.
 
It really depends on where you are from. A "lightning storm" in the NW is called "Tuesday" in many parts of the south. I'm from Oregon and I first came out to North Carolina about 3 years ago. There is just no comparison. In OR we might get a lightning storm twice a year with a few small bolts. In NC it's very regular to have ENORMOUS storms that last for hours and shake the house like a dump truck just hit it.

The second day I was here there was a storm so bad I was hiding in the house wondering what to do. Lightning hit a tree right behind the house, broke a window and set off the smoke detector. (not sure why) Way louder than any gunshot I've ever heard. If you don't fear something like that which can come out of the sky with little warning, something is wrong with you.
 
Standing in a soccer field one day, watching kids punt a ball around.

A storm was coming, and at once, everyone's hair started standing on end...they were all pointing, and ooohing and laughing.

The few of us who understood the gravity of the situation got down low, to go go go.
 
Madman, being from Houston you should understand all of this already (methinks you are just trying to stir the pot a bit) but lightning doesn't just strike the tallest object and disappear. Once it strikes it finds the path of least resistance and continues to travel. A person can be standing a hundred feet from the strike and can still be electrocuted from an underground charge. My neighborhood has underground electric lines, no poles and wires above ground, yet I have lost many electronic devices when lightning strikes a nearby tree then travels underground to find the buried power line which then fries my computer, DVD player, radio, etc.

Being from Florida, the lightning capital of the country, lightning storms are almost a daily occurrence during the summer when the afternoon thunderstorms roll in. They can be quite violent with strikes every few seconds. I have been caught in them too many times while out fishing in the Gulf with nowhere to hide. It ain't fun. I've had the hair on my head stand on end from so much static electricity build up, knowing this is a precursor of a lightning strike. I've had sparks arc from the tip of my VHF radio antenna and from the stainless steering wheel to my hand. I have a friend whose father was killed by a lightning strike while playing baseball.

Am I afraid of lightning? Let's just say I am very cautious and respectful of its power.
 
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