Redneck in training
Elite Member
If it happens at night I set up a camera to take pictures. I will post pictures later when I get to another computer.
What do you personally do when a Thunderstorm approaches?
- Thread starter creekbend
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Baby Grand
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I didn't really know what lightning was until i spent some time at Hopi Lodge in Tucson. The town has mountains nearby and when the storms came in from the West the thunder and lightning would get crazy when the storm got between them. It was like an artillery barrage. Apparently, the roofers out there get whacked on a fairly regular basis.
I usually grab a beer and head for the porch to watch the show until I get scared inside by the wind , lightning, or hail. We have some real show out here in the hinterlands... I would have to say that lightning is the greatest deterrant to outside activities....
dmccarty
Super Star Member
I have been mowing when thunderstorms have caught me on the tractor. I could see the clouds but they did not look bad and I could not hear the thunder until it was close because of engine noise.
Last spring a front was arriving on Saturday afternoon. My plan was to go work on some firewood that was at the FPA(Firewood Processing Area)
There is a great big oak tree at the FPA which provide nice shade during splitting sessions in the heat of the summer.
I checked radar and the front was a good 20-30 miles away. For some reason I decided to be lazy and not go work on firewood. I was partly not in the mood but I did not want to start and then have to stop when it started raining. At least that was my rationalization.
Instead, I got on the phone and called my parents. I guess because the front was approaching I kept looking out the windows to the west. There was a very bright and blinding flash of light followed by the loudest BOOM ever. The power in the house did a major flicker and the cell phone call dropped.
A lightning bolt had hit the shade tree at the FPA. If I had gone out there to work I would have been UNDER that shade tree. The strike blew bark a good 100 feet from the tree and eventually the tree died. The top blew of the tree blew out in a wind storm a month or so ago.
One of the very scary things about that lightning strike was that the front was still 15-20 miles away and there was not a cloud in the sky. NOTHING.
That front ended spawning tornadoes to our south and one of which killed a bunch of people.
I have seen quite a few lightning strikes over the years and they are worrisome.
Later,
Dan
Last spring a front was arriving on Saturday afternoon. My plan was to go work on some firewood that was at the FPA(Firewood Processing Area)
There is a great big oak tree at the FPA which provide nice shade during splitting sessions in the heat of the summer. I checked radar and the front was a good 20-30 miles away. For some reason I decided to be lazy and not go work on firewood. I was partly not in the mood but I did not want to start and then have to stop when it started raining. At least that was my rationalization.
Instead, I got on the phone and called my parents. I guess because the front was approaching I kept looking out the windows to the west. There was a very bright and blinding flash of light followed by the loudest BOOM ever.
The power in the house did a major flicker and the cell phone call dropped.A lightning bolt had hit the shade tree at the FPA. If I had gone out there to work I would have been UNDER that shade tree.
The strike blew bark a good 100 feet from the tree and eventually the tree died. The top blew of the tree blew out in a wind storm a month or so ago. One of the very scary things about that lightning strike was that the front was still 15-20 miles away and there was not a cloud in the sky. NOTHING.
That front ended spawning tornadoes to our south and one of which killed a bunch of people.
I have seen quite a few lightning strikes over the years and they are worrisome.
Later,
Dan
Redneck in training
Elite Member
Here they are. Taken from my porch at night with 30 sec exposure.
Attachments
nue2farm
Silver Member
If at home, I watch from the porch until common sense kicks in, then I go inside. If out and about I go either to the cabin or to the house, which ever is closest.... I no longer stay out in them as I did when I was young and dumb and full of....
If out and about I go either to the cabin or to the house, which ever is closest.... I no longer stay out in them as I did when I was young and dumb and full of....
MossRoad
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I have a habit of counting when I see the flash and timing it. Got that when I was a little kid. I like to watch for a while, but you gotta know when you are pressing your luck. Had some close calls when I was a kid and later on when I worked at the airport. I know when its bad enough to go inside and then when its bad enough to hit the basement. Just a couple years ago we had a pretty good thunderstorm rolling through. Tornado warning popped up. We hit the basement much to my wife's disgruntlement. Lightning struck and we saw blue sparks on all the pipes in the basement just before all the power went out. Kids did not like that. Heck, I didn't like that. But, no fire. Life's good. :thumbsup:
I'm using the middle one as my desktop :thumbsup: Thanks :laughing:
As for what I do... usually works in the rain till one hits "close"
GGB
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When I was young, I used to be somewhat nonchalant about lightning. That is, until I was up on an aluminum ladder hanging gutter with a corded drill in my hand as a small rainshower approached. There was some lightning with a very light rain, but thought by the sound of the thunder that the lightning was at least a mile away. So we thought we had plenty of time to finish the job before it was dangerous. WRONG!
I got zapped pretty good, and believe me when I say that it didn't take long to get off the ladder and get in the truck. I never did figure out exactly where the lightning hit, but the ground may have been just wet enough to carry the strike. Obviously, it was not very smart to be using a power corded tool in damp/wet conditions, so I don't do that anymore....
Then about 12 years ago, my Bride and I were in our house watching out a west window wall as a thunderstorm rolled in. Again, I thought the lightning we were watching was a long ways away. Suddenly, the whole house was enveloped in that blue-white light you hear about. It shook the house, and I thought for a moment that the window I had been looking out of was going to shatter directly towards me.
We'd had a direct hit on our north chimney. The strike did a lot of damage-twisted the frame of the chimney, popped off trim on the house, blew the garage door openers off the wall and clear across the garage and hit the garage doors with enough force to dent the door, not to mention blowing every GFIC in the house. Amazingly, it only damaged two electonic devices, a computer monitor and a stereo reciever. It could have been a lot worse-I've heard about fires started in the attics of houses that have been hit, so we considered ourselves lucky.
So today, I don't try to outguess storms with lightning. I'm with the guys who break out the beer and relax till it passes.
I got zapped pretty good, and believe me when I say that it didn't take long to get off the ladder and get in the truck. I never did figure out exactly where the lightning hit, but the ground may have been just wet enough to carry the strike. Obviously, it was not very smart to be using a power corded tool in damp/wet conditions, so I don't do that anymore....
Then about 12 years ago, my Bride and I were in our house watching out a west window wall as a thunderstorm rolled in. Again, I thought the lightning we were watching was a long ways away. Suddenly, the whole house was enveloped in that blue-white light you hear about. It shook the house, and I thought for a moment that the window I had been looking out of was going to shatter directly towards me.
We'd had a direct hit on our north chimney. The strike did a lot of damage-twisted the frame of the chimney, popped off trim on the house, blew the garage door openers off the wall and clear across the garage and hit the garage doors with enough force to dent the door, not to mention blowing every GFIC in the house. Amazingly, it only damaged two electonic devices, a computer monitor and a stereo reciever. It could have been a lot worse-I've heard about fires started in the attics of houses that have been hit, so we considered ourselves lucky.
So today, I don't try to outguess storms with lightning. I'm with the guys who break out the beer and relax till it passes.
k0ua
Epic Contributor
If at home, I watch from the porch until common sense kicks in, then I go inside.
Same here, when I see lightning or hear thunder, I get my rear end in the house where it belongs..a few stories like the above with lightning hitting when the storm front is 15 miles away. is enough for me. Call me chicken if you like, but I have seen the effects of lightning, and I do not want to be part of the circuit.
James K0UA