Thall303
Platinum Member
- Joined
- Jul 3, 2015
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- Burton, Texas
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- 2013 John Deere 5045D. Kawasaki Mule 4000
That is really interesting. Never saw that before.
Lightening strikes
- Thread starter tow653
- Start date
- Views: 2569
2LaneCruzer
Super Member
I had a HUGE cottonwood within about 20 feet of the house; it was struck by lightening with the result that it survived, but with a huge dead section that ran most of the height of the tree. I learned three lessons here (1) Cottonwoods grow very big, and are a threat to nearby structures, so don't plant them any where near; (2) Lightening is prone to hit the tallest tree, even if it's next to your house; and (3) It costs in excess of $1500 to have a professional remove a tree like that without damaging either your house or your neighbor's house.
buickanddeere
Super Member
I would hazard a guess that more wildfires have human origins rather than natural origins .
bunyip
Elite Member
Unfortunately I think you are right, when we have had fires around us there are always some who light spot fires just to make it interesting, the fire services are taxed at these times and are sent all over the State so the local skeleton crews have trouble coping with the idiots who do this.
Having said that I have witnessed electric storms on clear cloudless nights start spot fires in really remote areas, people associate lightning with thunder and dark clouds and find it hard to accept that there is lightning with clear skies.
PILOON
Super Star Member
LOL, my home is built on a site that lightening burnt the last house down to ash.
They claim that lightening never strikes twice and I'm counting on that.
Old building was simply not grounded correctly but I can assure U mine is. (2 9 ft rods, 6 ft apart and pounded in with a power driver)
The old grounding was simply laid under some peat moss on top of bed rock, dry moss on dry soil is not the best conductor.
They claim that lightening never strikes twice and I'm counting on that.
Old building was simply not grounded correctly but I can assure U mine is. (2 9 ft rods, 6 ft apart and pounded in with a power driver)
The old grounding was simply laid under some peat moss on top of bed rock, dry moss on dry soil is not the best conductor.
buickanddeere
Super Member
That is a good start however the thousands of amps pushed by millions of bolts in a sudden brief spike . The inductance and back EMF will choke current flow into the earth .
Ground rod to earth reactance of less than 10 ohms is unusual . Those ground rods in the earth for a brief time will have a potential of thousands of volts above another independent ground rod in the earth 100 feet away.
Yes, what he said! I don't have a clue.
oosik
Epic Contributor
Grief - those pics of that tree still amaze me. Well - we are back to rain right now. The big storm front passed thru last night. And as per usual - all the booming and lightning went around me here - about five miles to the west - as it went from SW to NE. I don't know why but about 80% of the time we get the noise and see the light show as it skirts around us. And as usual - I sure get the rain.
cqaigy2
Super Member
Rain's nice to have during and after lighting strikes. :thumbsup: