Topic: House hit again.

[ocala]

This is the 3rd time in the past 6 years. Luckily it only took the cable modem and router.
Why the computer was spared is beyond me.
That same day I was as close to a bolt as I ever want to be.
I was making a delivery to a business (Fedex driver) and on the  way in a very close one hit. Anyways I raced in, got a signature and got back in the truck. While setting up my next stop I heard a tick like someone tap the truck with screwdriver. Then right after that a blinding light and theee loudest sound I ever heard in my life!  Needless to say I was like Holy Sheet!
This went on for about 15 minutes but none were as close but they were all in the vicinity. Needless to say I didn't leave the truck for a while.
 

[DaleReid]

In the 60s when I would work on the family farm during the summer my brother and I were heading to a field in his International Harvester Scout, sort of a little truck.  We got into such a heavy downpour it was unsafe to drive, and he pulled onto what he thought was the shoulder of the road, impossible to tell with the rain rate.  At that time we couldn't afford business radios like Motorola Motracs or GE Mastrs, so we had CBs which helped a little more than shouting.

I remember being scared a much as I've ever been because the radio would begin to make a squeal that increased in pitch and volume and a second or two later a bolt would slam into the trees next to the road, time after time.  Sort of like the lightning sequence in the Tom Cruise movie War of the Worlds.  Very scary.

I guess the little CB was sort of a Field Mill device that gave at least a second's worth of warning time to duck and cover.

Did you ever see where the lightning it?  Did it nail your truck?

[DanS]

I think it would be time for an underwear change if that was me!
Find any char marks on your truck? 

[ocala]

I don't think it hit the truck. It was running at the time and didn't suffer any effects.
I'm really curious what that "tick" sound was. When my house was hit on the previous 2 occasions I heard the same exact sound. After hearing that sound it was a good 2-3 seconds before the lightning hit. It's almost as if the ground connection was made and the bolt followed soon after. Weird.
I'm going to stop in that business tomorrow and see if anything happened.

[Dr Obbins]

My house was 2 times though lucky not a direct hit. A friend who works at the power company said that the last house on the line gets hit more than others. Mine is the last house, is yours?

[ocala]

My house was 2 times though lucky not a direct hit. A friend who works at the power company said that the last house on the line gets hit more than others. Mine is the last house, is yours?

Yes sir I am the last one on the line.

[Dr Obbins]

Aren't we special. 

[DaleReid]

Last house on the line:

Are your power lines above ground or buried?  We have buried out here and makes a world of difference compared to where I lived before.

[Dr Obbins]

Above till the corner of the property then underground to the house.

[cospringswx]

Last house on the line:

Are your power lines above ground or buried?  We have buried out here and makes a world of difference compared to where I lived before.

Buried in my neighborhood as well.

[W3DRM]

   Maybe you ought to consider putting up a tower system around your home with a good solid ground system to attract these strikes away from your home and electronics. That's what they had set-up around the old NASA shuttle facility and it worked very well. Of course, the US Government seems to have unlimited funds for such things that we mortal folks don't have...

[ocala]

  Maybe you ought to consider putting up a tower system around your home with a good solid ground system to attract these strikes away from your home and electronics. That's what they had set-up around the old NASA shuttle facility and it worked very well. Of course, the US Government seems to have unlimited funds for such things that we mortal folks don't have...

Actually I still have the old antenna tower still up. It's what my anny is mounted to. The first strike was on that tower which took out mt Weather Monitor 2 and other things.
My power wires come in to the corner of the property above ground then underground from there.

[vreihen]

As the child of a ham radio operator who believed that every QTH should include a huge tower and be on the top of a mountain, all that I can say is that the strike wasn't close if you didn't smell the ozone shortly before smelling the dump in your pants.   In all seriousness, my family had a thunderstorm evacuation plan to seek lower ground down in the valley, and I awoke many a night (during surprise thunderstorms) to a crash of thunder close enough to make everyone hit the bedroom floor.....

[DaleReid]

I asked a recently retired Electrical Engineer who was in charge of bringing all the power into our city of about 100,000.

He seems to know his stuff pretty well, and was head of the transmission unit (I used to kid him about wanting a new gear ratio for better fuel economy).  Anyway, transmission of power was his thing, and he really didn't know of any published or even folk legends about the last house on the line being extra vulnerable.

His comment was: There used to be at least 9 grounds per mile on rural lines. And a ground on
either side of a pole with a transformer. I don't think it has anything to
do with being the last customer, but perhaps the quality of the grounding at
the location. Soil and moisture conditions, for instance."

Not that even older and highly experienced and trained individuals know it all, or have had the opportunity to make learned observations, but despite all the 'end of line' customers that Northern States Power (now Xcel Energy) had, none of the transmission guys felt that end of line was a danger.  But, he's open to information, so IF someone has others who've noticed this phenomenon, let me know; he's not doing active research but has a very inquisitive mind.

[Cutty Sark Sailor]

Sometimes it's not the direct strike that gets you. Its the EMF pulse from a C-C or intra cloud that does it. Never hit the lines, never hit the ground, but 'electrified' your dwelling. I had a customer many, many years ago who swore he could unplug his TV, disconnect the antenna, and set it in the middle of the room, and lightning would still get it. I believed him. Lord knows I fixed it enough. I'll never forget him... there was nothing wrong with his wiring or utility grounds... but he sure couldn't keep electrical things working in his location, whether TV or battery powered radio.

[chief-david]

Ocala, you are beating the odds.  Too bad it keeps happening.

When I was a kid on the farm, the phone lines were still above ground.  Lighting hit the phone lines over a miles away,   blew the phone off the wall.

someone make a gif of a Faraday cage around a house.

[Farmtalk]

My house was hit by lightning while I was on the front porch trying to get a generator cranking. It was the loudest noise and brightest light I've ever seen. Not to mention scary!  

[Dr Obbins]

I asked a recently retired Electrical Engineer who was in charge of bringing all the power into our city of about 100,000.

He seems to know his stuff pretty well, and was head of the transmission unit (I used to kid him about wanting a new gear ratio for better fuel economy).  Anyway, transmission of power was his thing, and he really didn't know of any published or even folk legends about the last house on the line being extra vulnerable.

His comment was: There used to be at least 9 grounds per mile on rural lines. And a ground on
either side of a pole with a transformer. I don't think it has anything to
do with being the last customer, but perhaps the quality of the grounding at
the location. Soil and moisture conditions, for instance."

Not that even older and highly experienced and trained individuals know it all, or have had the opportunity to make learned observations, but despite all the 'end of line' customers that Northern States Power (now Xcel Energy) had, none of the transmission guys felt that end of line was a danger.  But, he's open to information, so IF someone has others who've noticed this phenomenon, let me know; he's not doing active research but has a very inquisitive mind.

He may be on to something about different grounding methods. It is possible that the method lines are grounded where he works is differently than the grounding methods here. I lived in an end of the line house for 10 years and the house was "hit" twice. Now I don't mean a direct hit necessarily, but a hit that tripped breakers and required electronics to be replaced even though they were on surge protectors. One hit was strong enough that it left black soot on the wall by the outlet where a phone and clock was plugged in. Then 6 years ago I built a house next door and now it is the last house. In this house we have to reset breakers 3-4 times per year, and had to replace electronic equipment once. During this same time, my brother (who bought the old house) has not has any lightning issues. As I mentioned the friend who lived 2 houses up the street was a lineman for the power company and he said that the last house on the line gets hit more than others based on his experience.

[ocala]

Something someone else mentioned to me was pine trees. On the back corner of my property about 250ft away is a group of very tall pine's. I am surrounded by oaks but these pines dwarf them. Now being so far away I'm not sure it could be considered a reason but I've heard that that the tap root of a pine makes for a good ground.