its not the rain, its the...

[lucydad]

All,

LIGHTNING....ugh.  We are back into typical Houston, TEXAS summer weather patterns after El Nino cratered.  That means chaotic pop up storms from onshore Gulf of Mexico breezes.  One minute its just cloudy, nothing on radar.  Next minute: boom--torrential rain, wind, and lightning.  Got right on the edge of a storm today on the V7R.  Dang lightning give me the puckers.  Ugh.  Rain I can take, but those bolts from Zeus are too much.  Hoping for dry weather next week in Colorado...

[Guzzistajohn]

Aye.....there's a ill wind a blowin' in the ozarks too



Had to kennel me schnauzer, (she hates thunder)



5 minutes later

[atavar]

Personally I quite enjoy thunder storms, I just try and find a place with nice tall conductive stuff around to draw the lightning away from me. 

When I lived in Az there were two mountain peaks (well, high sharp hills) about an eighth of a mile apart with radio towers on top of each. I would drive the Jeep up to the hollow between them and just sit and watch the light show.  It was often spectacular and amazing. 

[davedel44]

I've always heard that you're safe in a car because the tires insulate you.  Same on a bike?

Dave
Galveston

[oldbike54]

I've always heard that you're safe in a car because the tires insulate you.  Same on a bike?

Dave
Galveston

 No . It isn't the rubber tires that are protecting you , it's the metal body that conducts the electricity around you that protects .



 Dusty

[Guzzistajohn]

Had lightning hit REALLY close a while ago. Flash/bang @ the same time. Had to have another

[oldbike54]

 Oh , it's called the Faraday effect .

 Dusty

[Guzzistajohn]

Oh , it's called the Faraday effect .

 Dusty

I'm calling it the PBR effect

[oldbike54]

I'm calling it the PBR effect

 Uh , OK  Actually that was in reference to Dave's question .

 Dusty

[Guzzistajohn]

Uh , OK  Actually that was in reference to Dave's question .

 Dusty

Oh excuse me

[Penderic]

Thunderbolts and ....






The storm passes.......


 

[davedel44]

I'm calling it the PBR effect

Fine looking K9 John

[lucydad]

Really nasty storms this afternoon in Houston.  Small poodle not happy.  Hopefully its over for now. 

[ITSec]

One of my favorite things to do is sit under the eaves of my garage with the door open, adult beverage in hand, and watch the lightning...

Unfortunately, the ones here in the southwest have nothing like the beauty of prairie thunderstorms.

[Gliderjohn]

Quote from ITSec:

One of my favorite things to do is sit under the eaves of my garage with the door open, adult beverage in hand, and watch the lightning...

 :1: In our sunroom that faces south and west.

In 1989 I was helping to hold a glider down on the runway when a sudden storm brewed up. About a 100 yards away a lightning bolt hit a the ground in a worked field. The dust kicked up looked like a grenade explosion. Got our attention.
GliderJohn

[redrider90]

I took a direct hit to the house last week and it fried my modem and wireless router.

[fubar guzzi]

I took a hit to the head once---------------------it had no effect on me tho

[Guzzistajohn]

Fine looking K9 John

That's Bix Biederbecke the wonder dog. He's a good guy! Thanks!

Oh.....he's from Tulsa 

[Guzzistajohn]

I took a hit to the head once---------------------it had no effect on me tho

No effect? WHATEVER!   

[charlie b]

I used to think that things like metal poles/towers would 'protect' me.  No more.

Outside the house about 20 ft away is a little arroyo gully.  Trees down in it below the level of the house roof, and the pumphouse, both with grounding rods.  Lightning hit a dead tree in the gully. 30ft from the grounded stuff.  Dead as in for several years.  And no rain so it wasn't wet.  It hit the shorter of the 5 or 6 other dead trees around it.

Rode the bike through a thunderstorm once.  At the time I thought I was 'safe' since there were semi's near me.  Dumb.

[Guzzistajohn]

I watched a bolt hit a transformer across the street one time. Smithville, mo. Went dark, power lines glowed and black goo bubbled out. Quite a show!

[atavar]

I've always heard that you're safe in a car because the tires insulate you.  Same on a bike?

Dave
Galveston

Think about it, the lightening just crossed an air gap a mile or more long..  i don't think a couple inches of rubber are going to make a big difference..  lol

[ITSec]

I used to think that things like metal poles/towers would 'protect' me.  No more.

Outside the house about 20 ft away is a little arroyo gully.  Trees down in it below the level of the house roof, and the pumphouse, both with grounding rods.  Lightning hit a dead tree in the gully. 30ft from the grounded stuff.  Dead as in for several years.  And no rain so it wasn't wet.  It hit the shorter of the 5 or 6 other dead trees around it.

Rode the bike through a thunderstorm once.  At the time I thought I was 'safe' since there were semi's near me.  Dumb.

It's not about the height of the strike point (though that has some influence) - it's about the conductivity, often below ground in the roots. Metal towers and poles are often set in concrete, which has poor conductivity even though the metal would be otherwise a strong strike point.

The other fun question is whether the lightning is going up or down. Along with lightning that may flash inside one cloud or cell element and bursts that travel from one cloud or cell to another, there are both upward and downward strikes - and they have somewhat different behaviors in terms of what makes a good ground connection.

Gee, I'm as bad as Dusty for trivia!

[oldbike54]

I took a hit to the head once---------------------it had no effect on me tho

 Which time ?

 

No effect? WHATEVER!   

 Really John , it does explain a lot of things 

 Dusty

[Guzzistajohn]

Which time ?

 
 Really John , it does explain a lot of things 

 Dusty

You're right, wonder has turned to sympathy

[charlie b]

It's not about the height of the strike point (though that has some influence) - it's about the conductivity, often below ground in the roots. Metal towers and poles are often set in concrete, which has poor conductivity even though the metal would be otherwise a strong strike point.

The other fun question is whether the lightning is going up or down. Along with lightning that may flash inside one cloud or cell element and bursts that travel from one cloud or cell to another, there are both upward and downward strikes - and they have somewhat different behaviors in terms of what makes a good ground connection.

Gee, I'm as bad as Dusty for trivia!

Yep, used to have to work with the stuff.  Got taught by some of the guys at the Langmuir lab about lightning.  And depth of ground is only a small part of it.  Many other factors.  Enough so that I don't trust metal things higher than me to keep lightning away from me.

[Texas Turnip]

I've always heard that you're safe in a car because the tires insulate you.  Same on a bike?

Dave
Galveston

Dave,
No as a member on this sites wife was hit by lightening while riding in AZ or Nev. I know both of them as they have spent time here at the Oleo
ranch. She had many severe headaches for years.  Maybe, he will chime in.

Tex

[rodekyll]

We had a few thunderclapas last week.  Unusual here.  Nobody knows what to do.  They were keelhauling their schnauzers, battening their binnacles, stuffing socks in their ear holes, and sacrificing virginity without mercy.  After several hours of that they looked up and realized the weather had changed late in the morning.  As it was now well past dinnertime, they reluctantly stopped all the rituals.  Just as well.  They were about run out of virginity.

[wymple]

I took a hit to the head once---------------------it had no effect on me tho

Would you even realize any effect? I doubt I would still be the same. A friend of mine crawled up on an electrical transformer mess as a troublesome child, found religion.

[charlie b]

One of my troops got a concussion from a lightning strike once.  One of four tanks sitting on a road about 50ft from each other.  Mine was lead, he was behind me.  A big strike hit his tank.  Effect was enough to rock my tank (60 tons).  Their radio and all electric stuff still worked after the strike (a tank is a great faraday cage :)  ).  The guys in the tank behind said the strike hit the ant.  The fiberglass ant was shattered.

He was on the front fender taking a leak over the side when hit.  It tossed him about 20 ft over the side.  Sent in for observation and held for a few days.  No apparent after effects.  He was lucky.