Lightening is Powerful Stuff

[skiptomylu]

Last week we had some storms come through and lots of lightening. One hit was really close because it was a really loud boom so I knew something close was hit. I looked around my yard to see, but found nothing until I looked across the street from me and this tree is what I saw.


http://i16.photobucket.com/albums/b4...-7-2200008.jpg
http://i16.photobucket.com/albums/b4...-7-2200004.jpg
http://i16.photobucket.com/albums/b4...-7-2200001.jpg

[Roberta]

It'a amazingly powerful, and underappreciated. We've had the house hit a number of times, but our lightning rod system has saved our hash. Not so the birds nesting in one of our trees that was hit a number of years ago. They were instantly fried; the bolt traveled through the tree roots until it hit a metal fencepost. There was sod ten feet up in the tree. Zot! - Roberta

[CrappieLips]

knocked the bark right off

[izzysfishin]

Read or heard somewhere that the sap under the bark boils and expands in that split second, blowing it off the tree. We see alot of trees down where we deer hunt just like your pics, some split down the middle and bark blown 100 ft from the tree. Would'nt want to be close when it struck...izzy

[Roberta]

A couple of years ago, BASS (I think) printed a photo of two graphite rods that had been left leaning against a tree by two young boys. Their dad had just called them into the house because fo the storm. The tree was hit by lightening and the rods are shredded. Made an impression on me. - Roberta

[crappiequeennc]

Storm come through here one day,and I heard the loudest boom in my life.I thought my shed had been hit,so I looked out the window just in time to see a fireball rolling across the backyard into the shed next door.Never seen anything like it..Hope I never do again...

[roybuoy]

weather can be amazing

[thudpucker]

Near Bundick lake in Louisiana, I was out on the porch, coffee in hand, marvelling at the power of those Lightening storms.
Then the sharp Craaaaack, and a Zizzziing feeling in my head, and the hair stood up all over my arms and head.
Wow!
Lightening must have hit a Tree (or something) very close to me.
Yezzireeebob, I went back in the house right away.

Lightening has already travelled about Five miles to get close to the Earth.
It'l use almost anything for a conductor.
Trees are good, Aluminum boats, Golf Clubs Fence posts...just about anything that can be used as a conductor to get into the Earth.
A person full of water is a poor conductor, so lightening usually goes outside the skin surface. However as we all know, it sometimes travells deeper inside the skin as well.

Just get inside something big. Bigger than a dog house for sure!