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Have you ever been struck by lightning?

fourstringdrums

fourstringdrums

Decidedly Indecisive
Supporting Member
Oct 20, 2002
9,722
12,480
45
Massachusetts
#1
We had a huge storm today, and beside the terrential downpours we had, there was more lightning than I've seen in a while and I started thinking about what if I were to get hit by lightning (Carrying metal crutches in a lightning storm doesn't exactly make me feel safe :D)

I had an uncle who got zapped once up in Maine. He stepped out of his RV onto the metal step and got zapped. Has anyone here actually gotten hit by lightning?
 
#3
No one actually gets "hit" directly with lightning. If you did, well, it wouldn't be pretty at all. When you're "struck" by lightning, it just hits rather close to you and has enough energy to it that it causes pretty good harm if close enough.
With that said...
I've been in storms where lightning would hit a tree ~100' away or so. This happened twice, actually. A few moments before it struck, everyone's hair was standing up and stuff. Even though we were that far away, we could sort of feel the energy from it. Was pretty cool :smug:
Other than that though, no close calls.

-Ray
 
#4
I was driving from Lubbock to Austin Texas tuesday night and got stuck in heavy rain for a couple of hours. At one point a bolt of lightning hit a tree on the side of the road about 50 yards up. Scared the crap out of me. It was prety awesome though, the tree exploded and sparks flew all over the place.


~John
 
#6
I was playing golf near Park City, Utah last summer when a thunderstorm rolled in. We were on the 7th hole, and wanted to try and finish the front nine before we headed home. As we finished seven, lightning struck the ground on the green as we walked to the 8th tee. The air did get really tingly feeling, and we could feel it coming. We didn't know what it was until we heard what sounded like a bomb go off 25' behind us and a huge flash of light. It was cool, and scary at the same time.

-Mike
 
#7
Almost. I was at a job doing someone's tile in their house. As a laborer, my tasks usually involved cleaning everything at the end of the day. When I was finished, the foreman had one bucket left and told me to go home 'cause he was going to finish cleaning up. I left. Five mintes later, while in the back yard hosing out the bucket (like I would have been), lightning hit a tree about 10 or 20 yards from him. Witnesses say sparks shot from the hose. He doesn't remember. He took a few days off and complained of numbness in his right arm (the one with the hose)...but other than that he was OK.

Mike
 
#9
fourstringdrums said:
We had a huge storm today, and beside the terrential downpours we had, there was more lightning than I've seen in a while and I started thinking about what if I were to get hit by lightning (Carrying metal crutches in a lightning storm doesn't exactly make me feel safe :D)
Click to expand...

You have little rubber thingys on the bottom of your crutches right? Wouldn't it be like sitting in a car?

j/k

That storm last night was awesome! Even though I didn't get much sleep due to the fact that my dog is the biggest baby in the world when it comes to thunder storms. He sat on the bed shaking and panting in my face the whole time. I wanted to kill him! No matter how much I tried to comfort him and tell him it was alright, he just sat there and shook. He's always been afraid of thunder.

I've never been hit by lightning. Nor do I ever want to be.
 
#10
the rubber thingies on the crutches wouldn't help, and the point in the car is that you're not touching the metal that connects to the outside, and it leaves through the tires, so it just uses the metal on the outside,the fact that you've got rubber tires has nothing to do with beeing safe.

I heard(on discovery) that you'd need rubber boots a few YARDS high to even help
 
#11
I love lightning storms. Sit on the porch, all that good crap.

Never got struck, but come close by...once had a bolt split a tree right in front of me, like 200 feet away...BIG tree. Almost to the ground. The vaporised water and wood smell was unreal...

The other close call was I was living in a third floor apt., watching a storm as usual, and turned to go inside to get a drink, and I heard a mild "bzzzzzzzzt" type sound, no later a BRIGHT flash that absolutely lit to apt. up brighter than I ever saw, instantaneousy followed with the lowest, loudest BOOM I've ever heard. Amazing. I got really freaked out and stayed in the rest of the storm.

Still look forward to them tho. :D
 
#12
A friend's wife got struck when she was younger, and apparently lost the ability to walk, talk, use a spoon, everything. Took years of therapy to get her back to normal, and to this day she's a little ack thpppt quirky. Heads inside at the first sign of a storm, too.
 
#13
3 years ago, almost to this day (I think it was 8/16/02), my big split/twin oak in front of my house got hit. Half the tree proceeded to fall across the street and damage the neighbors' cars. I miss that tree. had to cut down the other half for safety, so it cost me some coin too.
 
#14
pigpen02 said:
a little ack thpppt
Click to expand...

billhead.gif
 
#15
MJ5150 said:
I was playing golf near Park City, Utah last summer when a thunderstorm rolled in. We were on the 7th hole, and wanted to try and finish the front nine before we headed home. As we finished seven, lightning struck the ground on the green as we walked to the 8th tee. The air did get really tingly feeling, and we could feel it coming. We didn't know what it was until we heard what sounded like a bomb go off 25' behind us and a huge flash of light. It was cool, and scary at the same time.

-Mike
Click to expand...

Was it the best game of your life, and were you skipping church? :p
 
#16
Funny, that same storm passed right through my neighborhood, and I was thinking the same thing. I was actually in the car when it started, and I was wondering if it was really true about being safe in the car, cause of the rubber tires and all.

How crazy were those lightning bolts though? It sounded like bombs were being dropped.

Edti: I was trying to get pictures of some of the insane lightning that hit near me...couldn't catch any though. :(
 
#17
I love lightning storms, had the coolest one last night...was far away but was all cloud to cloud so it was calm here, but the skies flashed. Really pretty IMO.

Other than that, they're cool, I'm not afraid of being hit (or winning the lottery) so I really don't do much in cases like that. Just turn off all my amps and run my laptop off the batteries.
 
#18
All those people saying you can feel it coming aren't lying. I was riding my motorcycle a few years ago when a storm rolled in very quickly. I was only 5 mins from home so I thought I'd keep going. Then I started feeling wierd - dizzy but not dizzy, really heavy but feather light all at the same time. I instinctively rollled off the throttle and then BANG! Lightning hit a tree which was about about 12" to my left and about 30" in front of me. Scared the pants off me! I pulled into the next service station and waited 3 hours for it to pass.
 
#19
JTbass said:
I was driving from Lubbock to Austin Texas tuesday night and got stuck in heavy rain for a couple of hours. At one point a bolt of lightning hit a tree on the side of the road about 50 yards up. Scared the crap out of me. It was prety awesome though, the tree exploded and sparks flew all over the place.


~John
Click to expand...

Did you take the stricken wood and build a bass? If not, you make me frown :(.
 

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