Have you ever been struck by lightning?

[W4MAJ]

I haven't been struck by lightning, but I came within 20 yards. Yesterday afternoon I was sitting on my carport watching a storm roll in from the west. A few minutes after it starting raining, I saw a flash in my peripheral vision and at the same moment I heard and felt the thunder. I looked up and saw what appeared to be a concussion wave moving across the yard and smoke dissipating into the air. It was at that moment, I decided to go inside.

I don't know if the lightning struck a tree, my aluminum flagpole or a telephone pole. I'm leaning toward the telephone pole because my landline isn't working right now. I looked for burn marks on the pole, but I can't find any.

Who else has come this close or has actually been struck before?

[KC7YRA]

I have been hiking on the ranch and had lightning hit trees by me. When my hair starts to stand up, I have learned to get scared. I also have seen quite a few horses get hit while on the prairie. They are the tallest thing for miles.

Just the other day lightning hit a power pole I was standing by in town. My wife had never smelled o-zone before. She got it that day. I have some pics I will try to fond of the storm. She took them right before we almost got hit.

As for the most electricity I have taken, I got into a 4,500 ish volt overhead line once. I don't remember exactly what happened but others said it made a HUGE flash and sounded like a shotgun. I woke up to my buddy yelling at me. I had to go to the ER and had a messed up cardiac rhythm for several days. Other than that, no problem. I was working as a firefighter and a large pole I was using got into the line. It was supposed to be insulated and luckily I had on good gloves and all my protective equipment.


Brad

[K9STH]

I have never been directly "hit" by lightning. However, the summer before I was in 5th grade my parents owned a concession stand at a drive in movie theater. Twice the screen was "hit" by lightning and "reflected" into the concession stand. Both times I was knocked down but suffered no lasting injuries.

Glen, K9STH

[W1RKW]

I've been hit indirectly a couple of times. The last time I was disconnecting feedlines as T-storm was approaching. Once disconnected I went into the garage to get out of the rain and sat down in a metal chair to take my boots off. A nearby strike occurred and I took a shock in the seat of my wet pants. A few years before that I took an arc in the chin from a telephone handset while I was on the phone. Had a few close calls. Saw my neighbors chimney get blown to bits. Had induced lightning come down a disconnected feedline and produce a 2 foot arc to a copper pipe in the basement. Was at my brothers condo looking out at a storm when a branch of lightning came down and twisted horizontally between his condo building and the neighboring building and arced out on a chain link fence. Many years ago was at Pocono Motor Speedway when a storm came through. The bleachers are metal. Not a good place to be in that situation. No one got hurt but the strike was spectacular and loud.

[VE7DCW]

Two summers ago,during one of the very rare thunderstorms we do get around here, a bolt of lightning struck a 50 foot high Douglas fir tree I have on my property. I was 30 feet away from the tree. I just happened to see the flash of the hit in the corner of my eye and heard the crackle of the bolt,the loud "poof" as the tree was struck and the instantaneous blast of thunder. I'm now missing 6 feet off the top of that tree.

It took a couple of days to totally stop shaking from the experience, but it was also fascinating to discover electrical arc tracks on the bark of the tree close to where it came out of the ground!

73

[WA6MHZ]

I have LIGHTNING right here in a little box. It is a 2500V power supply, and if I make ONE WRONG MOVE, touch the wrong place, I will ONLY WISH I had been struck by Lightning!!! I would get off much easier with a Lightning strike!

[KC9ECI]

When I was a young'un, on the farm, during the evening milking, I was lifting the lid on the bulk tank when the barn took a lightning strike. Knocked me down and left me a bit stunned.

[KA5ROW]

Close a few times. Was camping lightning hit very close. In my slepping I bounced of the ground. I saw no damage in the 80ft pine trees I was under.

Was sitting in the porch just went inside 15 sec maybe lightning hit the house burnd out the hotwater heater.

Was going outside I forgot somthing stepped back in just for a second lightning hit the TV antenna which was about 15 ft of where I would have been. This happend twice but years apart.

Woke up during a lightning storm disconected my antenna got threw for a loop "shock" from the coax. 5 seconds later lightning hit my antenna.

[KB3OKM]

When I was a kid (about 12) my best friend and I were out in front of my house when a HUGE storm was passing over. High winds green sky, etc....
We went inside my grandmom's 73 Pontiac Ventura to watch the lightning.
As the wind was picking up outside, the hair on my arms stood up and around the same time the dome light INSIDE the car turned on, got REALLY bright and shattered. All freaked out we looked at each other then over at my neighbor's yard where his fence started glowing.......right after that...it sounded like a bomb went off......It seems that lightning hit the neighbors ramshackle shed between the 2 houses and blew it apart. Aluminum siding was EVERYWHERE!!!! We laughed ourselves silly cause we HATED that shed...WHAT an eyesore!!!!




Jimmy

[AD5MB]

no, but since we are on the subject...

the news people should report:

number of people in the state struck by lightning
number of people in the country struck by lightning
number of people in the state who won the big lottery
number of people in the country who won the big lottery

on December 31 every year

A Snopes thing, ya' dig?