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LIGHTNING SEASON

C

cntry141iq

Silent Prop
R. I. P.
Our thunderstorm season is about to start here in florida. although some may think otherwise I really don’t want anyone getting hit by lightning.

Here are some FLASH FACTS courtesy of the READERS DIGEST.

1.) A building is the safest shelter. This is true since only 5 to 10 percent of victims are hit indoors. However contact with anything that can conduct electricity including CORDED PHONES, appliances, computers, metal doors and windows and water or plumbing can be hazardous.

2.) cars are safe because of their rubber tires, FALSE lightning can easily go through several inches of rubber. In reality it is the steel frame of the HARD TOP car that helps direct the lightning to the ground which shields you. But do not be touching any metal in the car at the time of the strike. And convertibles offer no significant protection (except maybe you will be dry when you are electrocuted.; I added this one)

3.) If it is not raining there is no significant danger, VERY FALSE, lightning can strike up to 10 miles away from where it is raining. If you can hear the thunder you are within striking distance of the lightning storm.

4.) If caught out in a storm I would advise parking your boat and getting off of it and moving away from it and hunkering down under a tarp or something. Definitely not under a tree and definitely not in the water. Our boats make excellent lightning attractions and most often are the highest points around us at the time of the storms.

So be safe and enjoy all that the LIGHTNING CAPITOL OF THE WORLD has to offer.
 
Good post cntry.

I'm a thunderstorm watcher from way back. Especially when I've got my grandkids....I constantly keep an eye on the sky for developement between us & acceptable cover.

It really amazes me to see the number of boaters that don't take cover when a thunderstorm pops up.
 
Thanks, John .... very good information.

I made this comment before in another thread but I think it bears repeating here ....
If you're using a stainless whip for your flag, that is the highest point on your boat and it becomes a lightning rod. To protect yourself and the others on your boat always insulate the flag mount from the rest of your rigging. If you have a fiberglass whip you're good to go as far as the flag is concerned, but your prop cage then becomes the next target for a lightning strike. Best advice is, if you can see lightning, get off the water.

feather
 
For a tad of insight heres a few not well known things about Lightening.

In my business, satellite communications, we deal with it in spades. The big, up to 105', dishes are a lightening magnet. Hence lightening is a continuous study.

Lightening, the part you see, is a stream of electrons flowing through the air from a lower point of potential energy to a point of higher energy.

The Earth is a virtually undepletable source of electrons. Ground is also considered to be at 0 potential energy.

When the static energy in a cloud builds to a high enough level, either (+) or (-) electrons will be able to simply flow through the atmosphere from a source of lowest energy to a source of greater energy.

To a negatively charged cloud that path is from the cloud to the Earth. In a positively charged cloud the path is from the Earth to the cloud. Both can happen though positively charged clouds are far more prevelant and lighteining normally "strikes" from the Earth to the cloud.

What we see is the super heat created by the electrons being stripped from their atoms and dragged across the resistance of the air. This super heat creates light.

What we hear as thunder is the atmosphere closing in after the lightening has opened it up with the electrons flowing instead of the air. The air was displaced momentarily and we hear the collapse of the atmosphere refilling the displaced area.

The clean smell after a lightening storm is the ozone gas the lightening has created in the atmosphere.

Even a fist class lightening protection system can not withstand a direct strike. Lightening protection is to keep the structure discharged constantly so a difference of potential energy can not build into a lightening strike.

An airplane survives lightening strikes because it is NOT gounded and the lightening simply passes off the surface of the plane and back into the atmosphere through special conductive straps on the wings and other places. This does not mean the plane is undamaged, just that it survives the strike.

The discharge point is usually the highest point in the vecinity of the charged cloud, but its possible that any item can begin the discharge. It is not uncommon for lightening to be present with even clear skies though it is rare to see it.

A boat when it moves through the water will build a static charge high enough to kill a person depending on the size of the boat. Submarines have a constant battle with this. The same can happen with rescue helicopters contacting a person being rescued.

Cars can build a similar charge from their rotating tires and moving through the atmosphere as well. Again this is when you read about a fire caused for no apparent reason at the gas pump when the nozzle was inserted in the tank.

The point to all this is that it is all static electricity and a natural phenomenon. Its nothing to trifle with and should be taken VERY serious. People who ride in thunderstorms or do not take any cover or place themselves in a place of less risk are just plain playing Russian Roulette. Lightening, by the way, Can and will strike the same place more than once and more than twice.

Scotty
 
We had a man killed here while hooking up a lightning protection system. It seems one side of the building was on natural ground the other side was on filled ground. there existed a difference like a battery so when he reached and grabbed both wires to hook it up to the lightning rod at the roof it electrocuted him.

Scotty I knew about lightning going up to the clouds but I quit trying to explain it because people just don't beleive you.

I hope we all make it through in good shape this year from both lightning and hurricanes.
 
One other safety trick... Run away from Basketcase and or Ms. Wizard.

Both of them have been struck before... I think Ms. Wizard has been struck MULTIPLE times.

LOL I love you guys. I hope you post some of your own first hand tips here.

On second thought, if either of those two are around... run TOWARD them!!!! You are not as likely to get hit when it's likely for one of them to be the "target".

(I like to think I can joke about it because I love you guys, and you know it... I understand this is a very serious matter!!!!)

matt.
 
Cntry,
BF,
WB,

Good stuff :wink:

Mood, Saw my father get hit,(washing hands at kitchen sink). I been indirectly hit twice,(A/C new construction work in attic where I became the ground). And saw my wife get hit, (closing our gate, she became the ground).

3 of these 4 times there was no rain, just thunder :roll:

Basketcase
 
Once again a wealth of information on this site. Being a florida boy all my life let me tell ya LIGHTING AIN'T NO JOKE! I've seen people and pets get hit. Have a standing policy with my lawn buisness light rain I'll still mow but if there's lighting I'M OUTTA THERE. No way in hell I'm holding a weed eater or edger(long metal pole with a running motor on one end) with lighting goin on around me. No lawn or customer is worth it. Just my 2 cents. SAFARI
 
Instant facts, information, and first hand accounts, all very good stuff. Once again, all hail Rick's vision. Hip hip hurray!!!
 
I don't know about the rest of you, but I'm Alergic to lightening!! LOL I Detailing cars for a living and learned along time ago to attach a ground strap to a car, truck or whatever before I start buffing. The high speed buffer and pad causes the car to built up enough static electricity to knock you across the yard.

Be careful out there!

Dan
 
Cowboy and I build and maintain high voltage electrical substations and I can tell you from experience that induced voltage from static build up is no joke when your body gives it a path to ground.
 
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