Lightning: Checked your ground lately?

[K4LIB]

Florida has twice as many lightning casualties (deaths and injuries combined) as any other state.
Most lightning casualties occur in the afternoon - two-thirds between noon and 4 p.m. local standard time
with a casualties maximum at 4. Sunday has 24% more deaths than other days, followed by Wednesday.
Lightning reports reach their peak in July. There are over 16 Million lightning storms every year.
The odds of you being struck by lightning are estimated to be between 1 in 400,000 to 1 in 700,000.
The expression: "lightning never strikes twice in the same place" is not true.

A plane struck by lightning (happens frequently):
http://www.metacafe.com/watch/174245..._by_lightning/

Another plane struck by lightning:
http://www.metacafe.com/watch/yt-036...ntas_airplane/

And another plane struck by lightning:
http://www.liveleak.com/view?i=c2f_1208751115

Close-up of a lightning strike:
http://www.metacafe.com/watch/yt-Sn6...htning_strike/

This is lightning:
http://www.metacafe.com/watch/232436/this_is_lightning/

Slow motion lightning:
http://www.metacafe.com/watch/159942...ion_lightning/

Lightning storm, Santa Maria, California:
http://www.metacafe.com/watch/yt-jiK...ia_california/

Lightning hitting the Empire State Building:
http://www.metacafe.com/watch/146123...tate_building/

Why you don't want to be standing under a tree in a lightning storm:
http://www.metacafe.com/watch/160370...tree_up_close/

Lightning's danger isn't always seen: some interesting facts about lightning:
http://www.usatoday.com/weather/tg/wflash/wflash1.htm

See where cloud to ground lightning strikes have occurred in the U.S. during the past hour, at:
http://www.intellicast.com/Storm/Severe/Lightning.aspx

And last, but most important:(courtesy of N0HR.COM)
"Ham Radio: Lightning and Grounding Topics - RF Ground Systems"
http://www.n0hr.com/hamradio/152/10/ham_radio0.htm
.

[KG4KWW]

Thanks for posting the links, cool videos

[NC5P]

You're not even safe in bed. Lightning hit the pole, blew up the transformer, came down the drop, jumped from the panel to the metal bed, went into my knee, then out my ankle. I had entry and exit wounds as proof. My leg hurt for several months. I didn't have any idea what happened at the time since the lights went out for several hours. All I knew was my leg hurt like mad after the bright flash and bang. It missed the poodle sitting next to me, though he was terrified. I quit working with high voltages years ago but they seem to follow me anyway.

[K4LIB]

You're not even safe in bed. Lightning hit the pole, blew up the transformer, came down the drop, jumped from the panel to the metal bed, went into my knee, then out my ankle. I had entry and exit wounds as proof. My leg hurt for several months. I didn't have any idea what happened at the time since the lights went out for several hours. All I knew was my leg hurt like mad after the bright flash and bang. It missed the poodle sitting next to me, though he was terrified. I quit working with high voltages years ago but they seem to follow me anyway.

Talk about bad luck, and being "the wrong place at the wrong time"! Sorry to hear of your incredibly bad luck,
though you were fortunate not to have been more severely injured, or even killed. That lightning strike had to
have scared the c**p out of your poodle!!!
.

[WB2WIK]

Nearly 100% of all injuries and deaths caused by lightning are to those who were "outside," not in structures.

Grounded or not, if you're inside, you're safe.

Grounded or not, if you're outside, you're probably not.

Check the stats.

WB2WIK/6

[K4LIB]

Nearly 100% of all injuries and deaths caused by lightning are to those who were "outside," not in structures.

Grounded or not, if you're inside, you're safe.

Grounded or not, if you're outside, you're probably not.

Check the stats.

WB2WIK/6

True; the odds are far less that a person will sustain serious injury, or death, from lightning striking a structure ...
than a person's odds of sustaining serious injury, or death, while outside... or from resultant damage(s) which may
accompany a direct lightning strike to a structure (such as an accompanying structural fire or explosion).

Lightning usually seeks the path of least resistance to ground. It sounds like NC5P's experience was one in which
lightning found the path of least resistance to ground when it entered his house through it's electrical system,
then travelled through his metal bed (which he unfortunately happened to be in at the time). I would think that
when lightning struck the power pole, the power transformer, then travelled through his house's electrical panel,
there should have been a (grounded) path of least resistance (other than the path of least resistance to ground
being a path through his metal bed).
.

[K9KJM]

Nearly 100% of all injuries and deaths caused by lightning are to those who were "outside," not in structures.

Grounded or not, if you're inside, you're safe.

Grounded or not, if you're outside, you're probably not.

Check the stats.

WB2WIK/6

While it is true that the vast majority of lightning injuries happen to people outdoors, There are LOTS of documented cases of injury to humans that were indoors.

I will take a properly grounded, Bonded situation over "taking my chances" anyday. I dont care what the "odds" are. It only takes once to be injured or killed.

To say "if you're indoors you're safe" is just irresponsible.

A correct statement would be "If you are indoors, you are much safer than being outdoors"

For some good info on proper station protection:

http://members.cox.net/pc-usa/station/ground0.htm

[WB3JLA]

I have been out to SEA alot in my life time working and fishing
I have never seen the lighting strik the water.

Lot of sail boats

Some times they get their bottom blown out

[KT4W]

The area around Clearwater - St Pete is the lightning capitol of the US. If you want to know about lightning protection just see how they do it around there. I used to sell traffic control devices and the installers in that area were the most knowledgeable. Denver sees a lot of electrical storms also. One of the reasons that you don't find homes with wood constuction in the old part of Denver. Back when fire protection was volunteer and water was at a premium the use of masonry construction helped prevent the city from being burned to the ground.

[KL7AJ]

Number Nine: Lightning
We mentioned earlier that there isn’t much you can do if a lightning bolt has your number on it. However, you can avoid becoming target practice for Thor by understanding a few principles. Maybe.
Tall metal objects attract lightning. And, if you are near a tall metal object, that tall metal object is a shortcut to you. Stay away from tall metal objects when lightning is in the area. If you, like many hams, have a tall tower, there should be a conductive path to ground OTHER than through the coaxial cable to your radio. (And by extension, to you). And, if lightning is in the area, that OUTSIDE path should be the only path to ground. In other words, you should disconnect your transmission lines from your radios, and fling them outside, if at all possible. The time to do this is before you see St. Elmo’s fire crackling off the tips of your Yagi antenna elements.
Now, for the real facts of life. If you have a fifty-foot tower, the only real way to guarantee that it won’t get hit by lightning is to build a two-hundred foot tower next to it. Even that’s not a perfect guarantee, though. Lightning writes its own rules as it goes along. If you get a chance to view some high speed photography of lightning in action, this becomes very apparent.
Lightning is very beautiful, very intriguing, and very necessary for life on Earth. But it’s also a lot bigger than you are. Enjoy it at a distance, so you can enjoy it more than once. See Chapter 15, “Natural Radio,” for some safe, fascinating methods of doing just that.