Lightning Safety!!

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Watch the entire video, first…I'll wait.

The lightning struck him and the pavement. You can see pieces of pavement and dust launched by the force of the lightning bolt. The lightning disabled his car's electronics.

From the video, it appears to me the bolt came from the thunderstorm's anvil (interesting explanation here) away from where the rain was falling.

Sunday, I was in my backyard photographing thunderclouds and I heard the familiar "zip" sound of  "anvil crawler" lightning overhead. While most anvil crawlers are horizontal (see below), they sometime induce cloud to ground lightning and they are nearly impossible to see in full daylight. I walked very quickly back into the house because it is not safe to be under anvil crawlers. An example of a cloud-to-ground bolt induced by an anvil crawler is below.
Wikipedia, click to enlarge
The rule is, "if thunder roars go indoors." I would add if you hear a sound like "zipping" overhead, go indoors also!

Comments

  1. BrianMay 28, 2014 at 2:56 PM

    This is why we have a 30 min/5 mile rule. If lightening is detected within 5 miles of you, seek shelter, and don't come back out until 30 min have elapsed since the *last* strike within 5 miles. WeatherBug and it's associated app Spark seem to be good apps to have on your phone during the storm season.

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