Sunday afternoon storm story

Hello Everyone,
I just want to share a little story with you all. We had a thunderstorm come through my neighborhood today (Sunday) at about 2 or so in the afternoon. I was sleeping because I work nights. I heard the sounds of thunder crashing and then the power went out and woke me up because I sleep with a fan to drown out daytime noise and when the fan went off I sat up and started cussing. After about a minute the power went back on and so I laid back down. Not one minute later I heard the loudest BOOM and saw the brightest flash I have ever seen before during a thunderstorm. It sounded like a bomb went off in my backyard. I jumped out of bed and ran downstairs soooo fast! I just knew that lightening hit something very nearby. (did I mention that I am deathly afraid of thunderstorms??) Well, I was walking my dogs earlier this evening and right next door I discovered that what was hit was my neighbor's huge tree. Now that's a little too close to home for me. It split the bark from top to bottom and blew bark all over the place. It also left a big hole in the ground around the trunk. Not major damage I realize, but like I said, it was way to close for me. I used to play out in the storms when I was a little kid. Now I am afraid of storms, I guess because I realize their destructive powers. I don't think I really thought about it as a kid. I just thought I would share. Please share your own storm stories with me. I'm going to post a picture of the tree when it is light outside.
Lisa

I remember going to work after a tornado hit in south Tulsa in about 1981. When I got to work I was a canoe in a tree, a tractor trailer on a roof upside down and noticed half the warehouse of the place I worked at ..... was gone.
I also remember driving home and everywhere it was flooded it rained so hard. I drove though water so deep it was spewing out of holes way up under the dash and soaked the carpet so bad I had to replace it because it had some sort of horse hair padding that smelled. I also remember the tornade that wiped out a swath of OKC a few years ago, the same cell that made an F5 tornado tore up a church about 5 miles before it lifted and missed the house I was living in.
I also recall driving about 7 miles away from where I say really weird looking super dark clouds and later found out a tornado wiped out a bunch of stuff at that same time. It was clear out where I was, sun was shining too... very weird.

I recall when I was a kid my dad told me to count the seconds after a lightning bolt hit and 5 seconds is a mile or something like that, used to sit on the screened in side porch and wait.... and then BOOOOOOOOOOOOM! one hit about 2 houses away and I almost needed pampers on me... EEEEEK!.

I would not want to live in 'tornado alley'
SCARY!! /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/ooo.gif

I once lost a tree in my backyard to wind during a pretty fierce tornado/thunderstorm. It didn't hit the house, though. That was a blessing.

I'd rather live in tornado alley where you can see them coming than in California where the earthquakes take you by surprise.

I almost got struck by lightning in the late 1990s here in Seattle. I was on Capitol Hill at the time (near the former Elite II tavern about two blocks west of Broadway). I heard this crackling sound for a couple of seconds, then the lightning bolt came down just behind the 1-story building I was in front of; there was no discernable delay between the light and the sound, so I know it was very, very close. /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/eek.gif Since I was in my electric wheelchair, the rubber tires (or tyres) provided enough insulation between me and the sidewalk, so I didn't get zapped. /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/smile.gif I quickly ducked into a nearby bar to wait the rest of the electrical storm out.

We don't get lightning in downtown Seattle very often, so it was a very lucky coincidence that I was that close to lightning as I was that day.

I too, almost got the complete affects of being struck by lightning once(this was many years ago). It had been raining all day, hard rain at that. I was out in the the street, as it was completely flooded, playing in the water. I had been out there for probably 10 minutes and not a drop of rain had come down. For no complete reason though, my dad told me that that was enough and it was time to come inside. It wasnt beggining to look worse at all, he just said that it fun time was over. So, unhappily, I went inside. We just sat there in the family room, staring at a black screen on the TV as the power was out as well, then not but 3 minutes after I came back inside, lightning hit a tree that was 15 yards from where I had been playing. It was the brightest and loudest thing I had, and still have ever heard. Truly incredible. It wasnt for a few minutes after that that we finally realized, that if I had still been out in the street, I probably would be dead from the shock, or being thrown a few feet and hitting my head or something. So, I do believe God was involved somewhere on that, in my dad telling me fun time was over. Indeed, God himself put that bolt of lightning right there, but perhaps to teach or tell us something. Thats my story.

Cameron

While I was in college, a girlfriend was missed by less than 10 yards.

A friend of my mother was hit. Twice. Little or no injury. Wish she was still around to play the lottery for me.

Used to work in a library that got hit regularly, several times each summer. I was actually pretty used to it. I'd run through about 10 floors (hey, I was a lot younger) to close windows because the students were too lazy to reach across the table to pull the windows shut. Also, the tower had heat sensors for the fire alarm system (the building was one of the top 5 fire hazards in Rochester -- an old building full of old books) and a few of the sensors melted completely when the building got hit.

The Akita I used to have would try to climb into bed with my wife and me when the storms rolled in. She was a big dog, over 130 lbs. It got kinda cozy and my wife would freak.

But when I was about five years old, and my sister and I were waiting while my dad ran into the grocery store. A bad storm rolled in within about five minutes. The sky turned very dark and then lightened a bit, but was a weird purple color that almost matched the maroon color of the paint on the car. Then there many strikes within a very few minutes. I was little so I thought it was really cool, but it flipped my sister out. It's one of my favorite memories, but I don't know if that's because I loved the weather or because I thought it was cool that it scared my sister.

When i was 15 we had lightening hit our house, and because we had fire alarms that were A/C powered, the one in the halway shot a lightening ball down the halway right in front of me...My hair stood up /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/smile.gif
It was pretty wierd, we had to replace the corner of the roof and reshingle the whole thing, not to mention replacing the fire alarm with one that was battery powered...

Lisa, what is your avatar a picture of?
chris

When I was in high school I worked at an apartment complex on a hill in Colorado Springs. One day, while waiting for my brother to pick me up after work, I watched a storm moving across town. There was quite a bit of lightening at the leading edge of the storm and I remember wondering which would get there first, the storm or my brother. After a few minutes, it became apparent that the storm would reach me first, and so I started walking back to the office. The storm was moving pretty fast and it started to scare me so I started to run. Just before I reached the office my hair stood up. I reached for the office door, yanked it open, and jumped inside just as a bolt of lightening hit the top of the office building. I still remember the look on the manager's face. I can only imagine the look on mine.

If you find that the hair on your body starts to stand up when you are in storm, the odds of you being struck have just gone waaaayyyy up, and are still climbing! Duck down and squat in as small a shape as possible, but do not lay down (less ground contact the better), and also tuck in your arms as much as you can.

Woolfam, you were one lucky son of a gun that day.

Lisa, I'm glad to hear your house didn't get hit and that you and your dogs are ok. I would have been shook-up the rest of the day if something like that happened to me.

The most fantastic lightning story I know of, I saw on TV a couple weeks ago. A couple of teenage boys were filming each other while they were doing scateboard tricks. While one of them was performing a jump and was in mid air, he got struck by lightning, and they were able to film this. If he hadn't been in the air he would probably have died.

Sigbjoern

I was not there for this buy my friends where on my friends Ryan's porch looking at the storm. They said they felt weird and tasted a metallic taste in their mouths. Then they saw a huge bolt come down on top of the hill across the street. I wish I would of saw that. I could do without feeling/tasting the charge though!!

I always go out to watch storms. I am not afraid of them (maybe I should be). One time I was out standing on the BBQ because it afforded the best view of a cool storm out on the horizon. Next thing all my hair stood up on end and before I got a chance to hop down I blacked out for a second. I'm not too sure what happened, but as soon as I came to I jumped down and then there was an almighty flash and bang. I think I was hit by the "pre-strike."

That was cool. Talk about adrenaline sport!

Had the 'Hair on end' experience TODAY as a T-storm was rolling in - I did BETTER than squat - I went indoors (about 3 ft away) inside a nice multi story concrete building - for some reason the hair went right down - decided to stay in there for the next 10 minutes or so - storm was mostly gone by then...

The closest strikes... My next do neighbors yard when I was a kid - about 30 ft - a few years later a tree across the st (about 150 ft) That one was wierd because the was a carpenter ant nest in the tree - cause all sorts of strage stuff with the ants - and the latest semi close - about 2 years ago, I was walking out of the local hospital coming from some pre op testing, and was going to the parking lot. A bolt came down (went up...) forked bolt - one hit the lot, the other an antenna on the roof of the building about 100 yds away - it was the control antenna for one of the ham radio repeaters I use - my first thought was "Darn - there goes the repeater"

Closest hit I know of was a tree just across the street as I was in the front bedroom in front of a 'puter.

Flash BANG! And the 'puter died... as well as the tree!

Phoenix area residents will know about Piestawa Peak (formerly Squaw Peak). When I lived in town, I used to climb it 2 or 3 times a week in the evening for exercise. One summer nignt, a storm had passed through and I decided it wasn't a factor. I mad my run to the top and parked on my camp chair I carried as a backpak. The storm had moved at least 10 miles downrange and I was enjoying watching it. I had been there about 10 minutes when I reached down to adjust my chair. A 1/2 inch spark jumped out of my finger to the chair. Whoaaaaa. I broke camp in about 10 seconds and was on my way down the mountain.
A year later, I was a little bolder and decided to ride out a summer monsoon storm while on the mountain. It was interesting to say the least. I moved down the mountain about 300 Ft. and decided the lightning would hit the top and I would be OK. The storm kept coming right at the top of the mountain. I kept thinking it would be fun; I was below the peak and lightning hits the highest feature, right? When the storm center was about 1/2 mile uprange, lightning hit the valley between the ridge next my mtn and my mtn. Then it hit the parking lot at the foot of the mtn. I decided I had made a bad choice staying. I high tailed it down the trail just as the storm hit. There weren't any strikes closer than before, but the rain and wind came. Wind speed must have been about 70MPH. The rain felt just like riding a motorcycle in the rain. The Palo Verde trees were howling and waving like they were going to break. The trail was a river. Oddly enough, by the time I got to the trailhead, the storm was gone. I would probably have been just as well off staying put. Less chance of falling and cracking my head..... It sure was an interesting experience.

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totem said:
I'd rather live in tornado alley where you can see them coming than in California where the earthquakes take you by surprise.

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I live 2 miles south of one fault, 10 miles east of another, and there are at least6 more faults within 35 miles, including the San Andreas fault.

I've been in Ohio during tornado 'take cover' alerts.


Give me an earthquake any day Buildings and bridges and things can be built so that the earthquake does little or no damage. I've not heard of tornado proof roads or buildings.

I've been in dozens of earthquakes, and never seen any major damage where I worked, played or lived.

Daniel

My hair is standing on end just reading all of the stories.

Lisa

I know this picture sucks but you can see what the lightening did.
[img=http://img235.echo.cx/img235/9207/00000471pw.th.jpg]
Here is a picture of what I see from my back window. The lightening struck the tree from the street side. You can see some damage even from the other side of the tree.
[img=http://img235.echo.cx/img235/9192/00000430wl.th.jpg]
Lisa

I have lived most of my life in *tornado alley* and although there is a lot of talk about them I have never seen an actual tornado nor has one ever hit within a mile of where I have lived. Most of the time us Okies know where to run and hide when they hit so chance of someone getting hurt is small compared to other disasters. Most tornados miss everything just chewing up farmland and perhaps a barn or something.