Author Topic: Do not do not do not seek cover under a tree in a storm!  (Read 5583 times)

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Offline SlowModem

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Do not do not do not seek cover under a tree in a storm!
« on: May 27, 2015, 05:16:18 PM »
You'd think people would know better by now!   #-o

story here
Greg Whitehead
Ten Mile, TN USA

Offline CW2274

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Re: Do not do not do not seek cover under a tree in a storm!
« Reply #1 on: May 27, 2015, 05:30:33 PM »
You'd think people would know better by now!   #-o

story here
Indeed. I think we can tell where the current went. :shock:

Offline Harryca

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Re: Do not do not do not seek cover under a tree in a storm!
« Reply #2 on: May 27, 2015, 06:04:03 PM »
And a boat is not a good place to be either.

Storm report from Georgia Center, VT:

BTV: Georgia Center
Time: 2015-05-27 18:50 UTC
Event: 0 LIGHTNING
Source: broadcast media
Remark: report of parked small boat struck by lightning and destroyed

Offline DaleReid

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Re: Do not do not do not seek cover under a tree in a storm!
« Reply #3 on: May 27, 2015, 06:43:58 PM »
On the same site there are some links to slow motion strikes, to a tree, a literal bolt out of the blue, as the cameraman was taping a rainbow.
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Offline ocala

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Re: Do not do not do not seek cover under a tree in a storm!
« Reply #4 on: May 27, 2015, 08:41:25 PM »
It's easy to say don't stand under a tree but if your caught outside far away from anything where do you seek cover? Even if you're camping and you go in your tent you're just as likely  to get hit.
I think it's just the wrong place at the wrong time. 
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Offline DaleReid

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Re: Do not do not do not seek cover under a tree in a storm!
« Reply #5 on: May 27, 2015, 08:57:02 PM »
My brother and I were driving across a very flat stretch of land going from one field to another when I was growing up on a farm in central Wisconsin.  We were in an old International Scout, and had a two way radio antenna on the roof.   The rain was literally so hard that we couldn't see the center strip on the blacktop, and carefully pulled over to keep on the shoulder and not go down into the road ditch.  For about five minutes the lighting center moved over and past us, with hits every ten to thirty seconds that lit everything up, and the radio would make a very strange noise out of the speaker just before the strike occurred.  We both were so panicky about the truck being hit and would everything we'd heard about the strike going around the outside that we couldn't wait for the cell to pass.  No trees or wires or poles to act as a higher spot to hit.  I don't think it ever did hit the truck but I'm not sure we'd have known.

Another farm hand, and older guy who liked to smoke his pipe while driving an open tractor, was disking a field when a storm blew by.  He was sitting on the seat, and fortunately the top of the exhaust stack was higher than he was.  It got nailed, blew the pipe out of his mouth, caused the tires to blow out (filled with calcium chloride for weight) and apparently went into the ground through the disk since it melted some of the grease in the bearings.  I think I would have called it a day, but he got off, walked back to the end of the field and drove to get the boss to help him get the tractor off the disk and keep going.

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Offline CW2274

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Re: Do not do not do not seek cover under a tree in a storm!
« Reply #6 on: May 27, 2015, 09:11:34 PM »
It's easy to say don't stand under a tree but if your caught outside far away from anything where do you seek cover? Even if you're camping and you go in your tent you're just as likely  to get hit.
I think it's just the wrong place at the wrong time.
Not under a tree, period. If you're caught completely out in the open, the best option is to kneel down on the balls of your feet to make yourself as short as possible and attempt the least amount of electrical ground. Is it your best bet? Certainly better than a tree that's "how many feet taller than you"?
« Last Edit: May 27, 2015, 09:59:55 PM by CW2274 »

Offline CW2274

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Re: Do not do not do not seek cover under a tree in a storm!
« Reply #7 on: May 27, 2015, 09:13:48 PM »
My brother and I were driving across a very flat stretch of land going from one field to another when I was growing up on a farm in central Wisconsin.  We were in an old International Scout, and had a two way radio antenna on the roof.   The rain was literally so hard that we couldn't see the center strip on the blacktop, and carefully pulled over to keep on the shoulder and not go down into the road ditch.  For about five minutes the lighting center moved over and past us, with hits every ten to thirty seconds that lit everything up, and the radio would make a very strange noise out of the speaker just before the strike occurred.  We both were so panicky about the truck being hit and would everything we'd heard about the strike going around the outside that we couldn't wait for the cell to pass.  No trees or wires or poles to act as a higher spot to hit.  I don't think it ever did hit the truck but I'm not sure we'd have known.

Another farm hand, and older guy who liked to smoke his pipe while driving an open tractor, was disking a field when a storm blew by.  He was sitting on the seat, and fortunately the top of the exhaust stack was higher than he was.  It got nailed, blew the pipe out of his mouth, caused the tires to blow out (filled with calcium chloride for weight) and apparently went into the ground through the disk since it melted some of the grease in the bearings.  I think I would have called it a day, but he got off, walked back to the end of the field and drove to get the boss to help him get the tractor off the disk and keep going.
I suspect what you were hearing on the radio just prior to the strike was the leader stroke.

Offline ocala

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Re: Do not do not do not seek cover under a tree in a storm!
« Reply #8 on: May 27, 2015, 09:34:22 PM »
It's easy to say don't stand under a tree but if your caught outside far away from anything where do you seek cover? Even if you're camping and you go in your tent you're just as likely  to get hit.
I think it's just the wrong place at the wrong time.
Not under a tree, period. If you're caught completely out in the open, the best option is to kneel down on the balls of your feet to make yourself as short as possible and attemp the least amount of electrical ground. Is it your best bet? Certainly better than a tree that's "how many feet taller than you"?
I get that but most of the time you aren't in a completely open field. There is usually trees or forest or something. Yes trees are usually the highest thing around but with that logic every tree should be dead from lightning strikes. Of all the trees in the storm area lightning isn't going to seek out the one you're under. Again, I still think it was just the wrong place at the wrong time.
If you're hiking in the woods and a storm comes up, what do you do? The tree 10 feet in front of you is just as likely to get hit as is the one 200 ft to your right.
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Offline SlowModem

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Re: Do not do not do not seek cover under a tree in a storm!
« Reply #9 on: May 27, 2015, 09:47:01 PM »
It got nailed, blew the pipe out of his mouth, caused the tires to blow out (filled with calcium chloride for weight) and apparently went into the ground through the disk since it melted some of the grease in the bearings.  I think I would have called it a day, but he got off, walked back to the end of the field and drove to get the boss to help him get the tractor off the disk and keep going.

I think I would have had to change my shorts!   :shock:
Greg Whitehead
Ten Mile, TN USA

Offline CW2274

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Re: Do not do not do not seek cover under a tree in a storm!
« Reply #10 on: May 27, 2015, 10:18:35 PM »
It's easy to say don't stand under a tree but if your caught outside far away from anything where do you seek cover? Even if you're camping and you go in your tent you're just as likely  to get hit.
I think it's just the wrong place at the wrong time.
Not under a tree, period. If you're caught completely out in the open, the best option is to kneel down on the balls of your feet to make yourself as short as possible and attemp the least amount of electrical ground. Is it your best bet? Certainly better than a tree that's "how many feet taller than you"?
I get that but most of the time you aren't in a completely open field. There is usually trees or forest or something. Yes trees are usually the highest thing around but with that logic every tree should be dead from lightning strikes. Of all the trees in the storm area lightning isn't going to seek out the one you're under. Again, I still think it was just the wrong place at the wrong time.
If you're hiking in the woods and a storm comes up, what do you do? The tree 10 feet in front of you is just as likely to get hit as is the one 200 ft to your right.
I'll put it to you this way; if you and I are out golfing at a course with no practical shelter in the immediate vicinity and an electrical storm occurs, I'll watch you run for the lone tree while I kneel in the open.

Offline WA4TM

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Re: Do not do not do not seek cover under a tree in a storm!
« Reply #11 on: May 27, 2015, 11:29:18 PM »

Greg and I will be in the clubhouse changing drawers!!!! :D \:D/

And, NOT with each other!!!!!!!
 
« Last Edit: May 27, 2015, 11:32:55 PM by WA4TM »

Offline SlowModem

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Re: Do not do not do not seek cover under a tree in a storm!
« Reply #12 on: May 27, 2015, 11:33:29 PM »

Greg and I will be in the clubhouse changing drawers!!!! :D \:D/

I was going to say to remember the one about holding up the one iron.   UU



« Last Edit: May 27, 2015, 11:48:54 PM by SlowModem »
Greg Whitehead
Ten Mile, TN USA

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Re: Do not do not do not seek cover under a tree in a storm!
« Reply #13 on: May 28, 2015, 08:34:26 AM »
We've lost plenty of cattle over the years where they took cover under a tree during a storm that was hit by lightning.  Leaves a real mess behind.  Fortunately, it doesn't happen very often but we always check them after a storm.

Back when we still operated a dairy I can recall several close hits that probably struck the nearby upright silo.  I recall the sulfur taste at least twice afterward and after one particular strike my brother was cleaning up and said that during the strike (the lights went out momentarily) that a blue light came up toward him on the hose he was using.  Saint Elmo's fire I would guess.

When I first started in amateur radio I didn't understand grounding too well and I recall at least once having sparks dance across the radios but no damage done.

Offline Intheswamp

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Re: Do not do not do not seek cover under a tree in a storm!
« Reply #14 on: May 28, 2015, 09:30:32 AM »
About twenty years ago the old man that took care of our old family cemetery (mother's side) called to say something was wrong with my mother's grandfather's grave.  The slab was moved to the side a bit.  Mother could tell he was shaken up...especially when he said that he wasn't going back in the cemetery until the grave was "fixed".

Well, the sheriff, the local funeral director and a worker, my mother, father, and daughter (young teenager) headed to the cemetery.  Sure enough the slab was shifted to the side several inches revealing a darkness through the crack. 

Naturally the thought of someone hiding another body in there came up so it was decided to open the grave.  Upon inspection the perimeter seal between the slab and vault appeared to have been "burned".  Once opened it was found that the hinges and latch of the casket had been "scorched"...a brass plate with my great-grandfather's identification engraved on it was "blown off" of the casket.  Upon further inspection it was determined that an old cedar tree had taken a lightning strike and that the lightning traveled down the tree and jumped over to an old wrought iron fence.  The grave was right beside the fence and the surge jumped over to the grave.  Why it picked my great-grandfather's grave when other graves are to the right and left of it is anybody's guess.

A couple of things...  The cemetery is located on a high hill, the tallest one in that area.  The cemetery has much taller trees (old pines) around it that are much taller than the cedar tree that was struck.

Well, the thought had been voiced that someone might have slipped a "body" in the grave with my great-grandfather so the decision was made to open the casket.  My father had known my ggf and stated that he looked just like he remembered him.  The funeral director was amazed that the body and clothing was in such good condition...he took a piece of the wood with him to get it analyzed to see what it was.  My daughter looked too and reported that her great-great-grandfather looked ok, not scarey at all....she's the only great-grandchild or great-great-grandchild to see him in person.

They closed the grave back up, repaired the seal and went home, the caretaker resumed his duties, and the old graves still hold that hilltop down.  Late at night when the ghosts gather together on top of that hill and swap stories, my great-grandfather still tells the tale of how he caused the law and his family to come up to that remote cemetery to check on him after he'd been in the grave for fifty years!!!

Ed

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Offline Intheswamp

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Re: Do not do not do not seek cover under a tree in a storm!
« Reply #15 on: May 28, 2015, 09:32:29 AM »
As referring to the title of the thread...I agree!!!  I've known *not* to do that since I was a kid.  When you have a neighbor lose a half dozen cows from lightning striking a tree they were sheltering beneath you catch on quick!!!

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Offline SlowModem

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Re: Do not do not do not seek cover under a tree in a storm!
« Reply #16 on: May 28, 2015, 11:44:05 AM »
Late at night when the ghosts gather together on top of that hill and swap stories, my great-grandfather still tells the tale of how he caused the law and his family to come up to that remote cemetery to check on him after he'd been in the grave for fifty years!!!

What a great story!  Thanks for sharing.
Greg Whitehead
Ten Mile, TN USA

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Re: Do not do not do not seek cover under a tree in a storm!
« Reply #17 on: May 28, 2015, 03:15:47 PM »
About twenty years ago the old man that took care of our old family cemetery (mother's side) called to say something was wrong with my mother's grandfather's grave.  The slab was moved to the side a bit.  Mother could tell he was shaken up...especially when he said that he wasn't going back in the cemetery until the grave was "fixed".

Well, the sheriff, the local funeral director and a worker, my mother, father, and daughter (young teenager) headed to the cemetery.  Sure enough the slab was shifted to the side several inches revealing a darkness through the crack. 

Naturally the thought of someone hiding another body in there came up so it was decided to open the grave.  Upon inspection the perimeter seal between the slab and vault appeared to have been "burned".  Once opened it was found that the hinges and latch of the casket had been "scorched"...a brass plate with my great-grandfather's identification engraved on it was "blown off" of the casket.  Upon further inspection it was determined that an old cedar tree had taken a lightning strike and that the lightning traveled down the tree and jumped over to an old wrought iron fence.  The grave was right beside the fence and the surge jumped over to the grave.  Why it picked my great-grandfather's grave when other graves are to the right and left of it is anybody's guess.

A couple of things...  The cemetery is located on a high hill, the tallest one in that area.  The cemetery has much taller trees (old pines) around it that are much taller than the cedar tree that was struck.

Well, the thought had been voiced that someone might have slipped a "body" in the grave with my great-grandfather so the decision was made to open the casket.  My father had known my ggf and stated that he looked just like he remembered him.  The funeral director was amazed that the body and clothing was in such good condition...he took a piece of the wood with him to get it analyzed to see what it was.  My daughter looked too and reported that her great-great-grandfather looked ok, not scarey at all....she's the only great-grandchild or great-great-grandchild to see him in person.

They closed the grave back up, repaired the seal and went home, the caretaker resumed his duties, and the old graves still hold that hilltop down.  Late at night when the ghosts gather together on top of that hill and swap stories, my great-grandfather still tells the tale of how he caused the law and his family to come up to that remote cemetery to check on him after he'd been in the grave for fifty years!!!

Ed
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Offline DaleReid

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Re: Do not do not do not seek cover under a tree in a storm!
« Reply #18 on: May 28, 2015, 04:32:14 PM »
About 60 years ago when party line telephones were all you could get (if you could even afford that) and the lines were strung above ground, and relied on ground truly being ground, moisture for conductivity was a necessary part of it.

Long hot summers with little rain would dry out the sandy ground would make for a very poor ground and poor, or worse than usual, phone quality.

The above ground lines were a real magnet for lightning.  All us kids were very sure to neither be on the phone, or even anywhere near it, during a storm.

My uncle was seated at the dining room table doing some paperwork when the line got it and the phone literally was blown off the wall, even though no one was on the line at that time.

And another, spookier at the time event was an after-midnight storm awakened my two brothers who had gone into the living room to look out the windows when a relatively near by strike occurred.  Much to their horror, a blue ball about the size of a cantaloupe appeared just above the piano in the corner, floated gently down and bounced off the keyboard and made its way slowly across the floor towards the dining room, all over about five or seven seconds by their best recollection, whereupon it vanished with a soft poof.

Turns out that the telephone line ran from the pole, to an insulator nailed to the side of the house on the outside of the wall where the ball of plasma appeared, before coming into the house.  Now knowing more about some of the things lightning can do, I assume the pointed nail was a focus for the energy to appear through the wall.  Fortunately nothing caught on fire.

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Offline CW2274

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Re: Do not do not do not seek cover under a tree in a storm!
« Reply #19 on: May 28, 2015, 04:41:05 PM »
Just about every single year during the monsoon, you'll hear of someone being struck while yapping their pie hole on a corded phone.

Offline Intheswamp

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Re: Do not do not do not seek cover under a tree in a storm!
« Reply #20 on: May 29, 2015, 07:38:53 AM »
The following was told to me so I can't swear to it in a court of law... 

When she was a young girl, a woman that I was once married to was shelling peas with her family.  They were in a small living room, there were probably seven or eight of them sitting around in a rough circle.  Each one had a metal pan they were shelling into.  A thunderstorm was going on.  The electrical meter was on the outside wall of this room.  (Anybody see where this is leading?  :twisted: )  Well about that time one of those "plasma balls" came out of the wall in the vicinity of the electric meter.  From what I'm told the "glowing" ball traveled from pan to pan around the circle...finishing up with the young girl.  When it reached her her pan flipped over uncontrollably dumping the peas out.  The "glowing ball" then went somewhere (I can't remember where) and disappeared.  When it was over she told them it had "hit" her but everybody told her no, that she'd dead if it did.  A few minutes later a red welt raised up on her forehead.

Some points to note...  No, I did not know this happened to her before I married her, but after the fact it explains a lot...including that large bolt sticking out of either side of her neck.

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Offline rdsman

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Re: Do not do not do not seek cover under a tree in a storm!
« Reply #21 on: May 29, 2015, 09:55:54 AM »
Many years ago I was in the equipment room on the top of a VA hospital replacing the Power Amp (PA) on their paging transmitter that had been destroyed by lightning a week earlier.  I was sitting cross-legged on the floor bolting the new PA in when I heard a giant clap of thunder.  A big blue ball of lightning jumped out of the equipment cabinet and landed in my lap.  I jumped up and the blue ball hit the floor, went across the room and out the door.  I didn't feel anything at all.  I finished working, tested the transmitter and left.

Later on, I had to cut my blue jeans off because I couldn't un-zip them.  The metal teeth on the zipper were welded together!

PS:  When I went up to the equipment room, there was not a cloud in the sky.......

Ray

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Re: Do not do not do not seek cover under a tree in a storm!
« Reply #22 on: May 29, 2015, 10:01:01 AM »
You make a good case for button fly jeans, especially for old men with prostate problems and need more immediate access.

I love the real life stories about this stuff.  It just shows how rare but real these events are.

I remember having one of the local hams who ran the field day stuff telling about when the storm watch repeater on the local TV station's tower had it's power interrupted during a storm. He took a portable generator out and while plugging it in and monitoring it had the exciting event of the 1000' tower getting banged a couple of times.  By his report there was a sort of shower of sparks coming down off the tower and upper guys. 

Despite having a little free time once in awhile and parking in a nearby lot to watch for strikes to the tower, I've never seen it happen.  A case for a high resolution monitor cam to do the looking for me.

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Re: Do not do not do not seek cover under a tree in a storm!
« Reply #23 on: May 29, 2015, 01:52:36 PM »
The following was told to me so I can't swear to it in a court of law... 

Some points to note...  No, I did not know this happened to her before I married her, but after the fact it explains a lot...including that large bolt sticking out of either side of her neck.

ROFL!   Hahaha!  =D> =D> =D> =D>
Greg Whitehead
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Re: Do not do not do not seek cover under a tree in a storm!
« Reply #24 on: May 29, 2015, 03:36:24 PM »
Back before 9/11 and we could still take fam trips, I was in the jump seat of an American MD80 and we were dodging T-storm during the night. All of a sudden, tiny fingers of electricity began dancing all over the cockpit window, especially around the frame. It was like a tiny thunderstorm occurring right before me. The Captain and FO didn't really take notice, but I sure the hell did! :shock: