What Causes Lightning?

(Flickr/Pete Hunt)

John Friedman has written a whole book about lightning — looking at the science behind it, the myths around it, and its place in history.

Did you know that a number of people have been struck by lightning numerous times — one man six times?

What happens when you are struck by lightning? “It’s hard to predict what effect it’ll have on its victims,” says Friedman.

Many of the people struck by lightning told him that they felt God had played a role in their survival. A mountain climber told Friedman that he felt a buzzing in the air right before he was struck by lightning — as if a swarm of insects was present; others, he says, are struck out of the blue.

How To Protect Yourself

To avoid being struck by lightning, Friedman recommends heeding the 30-30 rule:

“After you see lightning, count the time until you hear thunder. If 30 seconds pass, or less, take shelter immediately. Then, after the last lightning strike that you see, wait at least 30 minutes before going outside,” Friedman says. ” The best place to take shelter is in an automobile.”

This interview originally broadcast in 2008.

Guest:

John Friedman, author, Out of the Blue, A History of Lightning: Science, Superstition, and Amazing Stories of Survival

We welcome comments from all of our listeners. Post below. Please stay on topic and be civil. Comments may be moderated by us, but you are solely responsible for the content of your comments.

David Strong

I’m surprised that you haven’t mentioned the Ranger in Yellowstone I think 9 times, He’s in the Guinness book, I also heard about a boy who was mowing the lawn when a tree was hit & then it jumped to the headphone wire of his IPod.
Sea

All Electricity including lightning takes all paths to ground, not the path of least resistance. This is what kills and is supported in the NEC
Frank6142000

I had a very close call in 67 I was part of a u.s. Marine security for Rodman navey base in the pannmal
Cannal….a liteing strike 15 feet above my head took out a transformer on a pole where
I was standing guard duty…it was very close…and very loud…knocked me to the
Ground…..but all is well….45 years later…..Lance coporal F.E. Hall USMC.
spectina

I don’t think I would have stopped what I was doing and sat down at the kitchen table to listen to you interview with John Friedman, except lightening had just touched me (literally) a few weeks ago. I wouldn’t say I was struck, but I surely was close. A thunderstorm was approaching our century old tamarack log cabin in northwest Wisconsin. I was just going to hold the wooden screen door open for my partner to take out a bucket of gray water, when a lightening flash struck the metal handle a few inches from my hand and a jagged blue spark connected to my fingertips. It felt like a cut or sharp needles. The sparks arced also into the kitchen and enveloped the propane stove for a moment. Then it was gone. I don’t remember thunder. I began pacing and couldn’t catch my breath for a couple of minutes. We were both in disbelief and by the time we registered that the downpour of rain and hail was blowing into the west windows, we had big puddles halfway into the room. I don’t feel any obvious ill effects after this close encounter, but a redoubled appreciation for being alive. A balsam fir had just crashed down onto my brand new Prius. Without the tickle of that lightening, I probably would have been very upset about that, but instead I’m just taking my dented car to the autobody for a new roof and moving on.
Shields Tim

I was affected by a lightning strike on Sunday night Sept 06, 1987 — the night before Labor Day. I was watching 3 separate cumulonimbus clouds all fully engaged in lightning, and because there was a near full moon, the 3 clouds were either illuminated from within and laced by lightning within the clouds, or lit fully by the nearly full moon… a beautiful sight from my backyard in the Atlanta area.

I stooped over the 3 ft high chain link fence to pet the neighbor’s young rottweillers to continue making them my friends… a wise thing to do … then the wind came up a bit and some large drops of rain began to bomb the ground in a sparse pattern. So I turned and walked toward my back door leading to the garage. I walked into what I thought was a darkish green bedspread (it was night so colors aren’t easily discerned) which my wife had weirdly strung across that part of the yard… and the dark green thing bounced off my face and then seemed to stick on the side of my face. I looked at my left hand also plastered against the bedspread… when it dawned on me that I wasn’t still upright and walking, but was horizontal on the ground! Turns out, you have have nearly everything turned off, senses and brain, and not ever know it. I had gone through some sort of reset!

My ears hurt. Was that an echo of thunder?… I think I must have been hit! I cannot feel. I get up and run or walk to the door yelling for my wife. I cannot hear myself. She opens the door and I think she is also yelling at me… but she sounds far away… and I sound far away to myself. I still cannot feel anything underfoot… it seems the only thing working is my sense of sight, balance , and a little hearing. My wife was at the sink at the window facing the backyard. I was out of sight way to the left when she saw and heard the strike simultaneously… she thought I was struck while still sitting in some metal lawn chairs I was in before getting up to pet those dogs.

I was panicked and couldn’t understand how I’d been hit from so far away… the storms were too far for any thunder to reach me. I felt tricked somehow. It took 15 or so minutes before subsequent lightning to hit… and it was hitting all around and close once the storm got going… making me a basketcase sitting and waiting on the staircase between the lower 2 floors of our splitlevel… I didn’t want to be by the fireplace on the lowest floor.

It turns out, I reasoned afterward, that there was a 4th storm brewing to the west, and it’s 1st discharge was sent close enough to stun me, or hit me somehow. My LCD watch I was wearing was fine still. My upper and lower jaw lines felt as if the skin were sunburned, and the top back of my head felt what you’d imagine if someone had whacked you with a fly swatter really hard… burned and sore. My wife saw no redness. She wanted to take me to the nearby hospital.. 1/2 mile away. I had enough stubbornness to say basically that if anything were damaged inside… there’d be little to do to help. I was glad my heart was ticking, and she could take me there if it looked like I’d need it.

Other things noted: my TV was knocked out… the fast blow fuse for power was needing replacement. My upstairs cordless phone was gone… fried. My neighbor’s TV was also fried. AND, one of the rottweillers was forever suspicious of me afterward and did not like being near me… I think he also got knocked down and thought I’d done it to him.

I can only say that my memories after the strike fascinated me and were vivid. I had no real sense of being saved, but rather, being messed with… what were the odds of being hit by the storm’s 1st strike? I had an episode while mowing the yard of inexplicably twirling the push mower around with one arm and throwing it like you’d do at a track meet with the hammerthrow. I know it was rage… but for no reason… the thing was running at the time. I chalked it up to a reaction from the strike. And for nearly 2 years, loud noises would make me jump physically out of my chair so badly, I had to pretend to be doing a Chevy Chase routine… and make folks think I was just goofing off.

I still love watching storms. I am a bit more calculating on deciding when and where to watch em.
Michael

The 30-30 rule is no longer used, it was found to put people in danger.
PLEASE change that. How would you feel if some child was struck squatting down because the read it here. Struckbylightning.org Michael Utley