"Cecil Moore" wrote

Dave wrote:
don't ever say that lightning won't do something. the voltages and
currents
and frequency range combination in lightning can do things that are
often
hard to understand. it will go up, down, and sideways, often at the
same
time. and just because it hits the ground doesn't mean it won't come up
again somewhere else and still be deadly or destroy equipment.

The scariest thing I ever heard of lightning doing is
killing someone out of a clear blue sky, coming from
clouds that were hidden by mountains.
--
73, Cecil http://www.qsl.net/w5dxp

Cecil, the "bolt from the blue" is a fairly common way for Americans to be
struck and injured or killed from lightning. In a few cases each year,
witnesses offer that there was either no warning that the storm was arriving
when the victim was struck, or they had only heard thunder but not seen the
storm. Last year I believe there were three such document cases, two of
which resulted in fatalities. The National Lightning Safety Center and
National Weather Bureau have both recently revised upwards the number of
miles from a storm that lightning can be expected to strike. That number
varies according to agency but is generally accepted to be at least 10 miles
ahead of the storm and an unknown (smaller) number of miles behind it.
Agreed is the now universal warning that if outdoors you should find cover
immediately when you hear thunder, and not leave cover until 30 minutes have
passed without hearing thunder.

A good friend who I have known for years and who provided many professional
documents for my lightning systems review over the years was just struck
(and injured) last summer. He waited a couple minutes in his driveway in
Virginia for the rain to let up a bit, and then made his forty foot "dash
for the door". Lightning struck a pine tree next to the driveway just then,
and it struck sideways into his shoulder and out his feet onto the wet
driveway. His wife found him unconscious a few minutes later, and he was
fortunate to survive and make good recovery so far. More than half of all
survivors of lightning strikes experience mental and/or physical
disabilities or complications following the incident. Another good friend
was in his Virginia workshop three summer ago when lightning struck the
tower, and he was the lucky survivor but unfortunate witness to massive
damage, some of it explosive, both to the room he was in, and other
buildings on his property. after a lifetime of close calls myself, it was my
close friend's experience three years ago that finally helped me get the
message and change the way I operated.

Jack Painter
Virginia Beach, Virginia