How Close Was It Really?

[Gavin Hannah]

Ok, so I have a question I'm hoping someone can answer for me.

Yesterday afternoon, I was out doing some fencing and from the top of my field, you can see out towards Arran, Ayr etc. It's not the highest hill around but it is fairly high. I could see the weather closing in and before I could finish, we had lightening, thunder, hail and the a long spell of heavy snow.

Now, I heard several loud thunder booms which appeared to be very close overhead. A few minutes later, I saw a flash out of the corner of my eye followed by an immediate very loud thunder clap. It was during the flash that I felt a surge of static energy and the hair on my head literally stood up. My father who was close by also felt this.

So I was hoping if anyone knew, they would be able to tell me just how close was the strike for me to feel this static.?? Needless to say at the time, I nearly Cacked my pants haha!

[suffolkboy_]

Well the general rule of thumb is that 3 seconds between seeing a flash and hearing the rumble means that it was a distance of 1km away (using the rule that sounds travels at around 330m/s, varying slightly with temperature). So using that an instant boom would generally mean it was withing a couple of hundred metres. The reason for feeling static is since lightning starts as static electricity that breaks down the air to neutralize the charge. This doesn't necessarily mean that the lightning will hit where you are, it will often hit an object very close to you that is either higher, or is metal. I'm guessing you didn't see where it hit with the fear of actually being hit!

[Nick B]

350 metres per second for the speed of sound, so if it seemed instantaneous, then, yes, possibly within a few 10's of metres even. Whilst in an ambulance (therefore perfectly safe due to the Faraday cage principle) a few years ago, I had a strike within a few 10's of metres which basically sounded just like a close gunshot.

Apparently, lightning isn't very good at killing you if someone else who knows their CPR is close (unless you get whacked by a CG+ I guess, then you'd be toast) but even so, if you were a cat I'd say you'd just had one of your nine right there, buddy. :o

[Dorsetbred]

I'd say a bit to f......n close if you felt the static...

BTW, cacking one's pants during an event such as this is not a good move, as the moisture trail will provide a route from the body to the earth for the strike.

Not advisable in such conditions

Such events are known as "Bolt outta the pooh"

Edited December 5, 2011 by Dorsetbred

[Lauren]

Isn't it 3seconds/km or 5seconds/mile?

If you felt the static that would be very close indeed. During El Gordo we had a strike that hit in the garden 4 doors up and that was incredibly loud and immediate, but no static, so yours must have been closer than that.

Apparently, lightning isn't very good at killing you if someone else who knows their CPR is close (unless you get whacked by a CG+ I guess, then you'd be toast) but even so, if you were a cat I'd say you'd just had one of your nine right there, buddy. :o

This is true, most strike victims survive, although about 60% end up with some sort of permanent effect from it.

When I was doing my CPR training we learnt about it. If it hits your pacemaker, you're pretty Lettuceed though.

[Gavin Hannah]

Thanks folks. I have asked a few people and no one I know has ever experienced anything like this. Going to put this down as one of those once in a life time experiences.

Just glad it didn't get too close. (how close is too close lol?) I think the worst part though was the fact that we were stringing roughly 400m of electric fence ribbon and we needed to get it finished there and then... :o

Edited December 5, 2011 by MadSnowboarder

[Glaswegianblizzard]

I remember a story a fewyears ago about a footballer in Denmark who was struck by lightning during a match, and the medical treatment afterwards involved cooling his body temp down to induce a coma.

Anyone know more about this?

[Lauren]

I remember a story a fewyears ago about a footballer in Denmark who was struck by lightning during a match, and the medical treatment afterwards involved cooling his body temp down to induce a coma.

Anyone know more about this?

http://www.mirror.co.uk/news/top-stories/2009/09/02/danish-footballer-struck-by-lightning-has-leg-amputated-115875-21642457/

They put him in the coma to give the body a chnace to heal itself.

[GadgetWeatherFreak]

In 2007 in Kent, my friend and i went storm chasing with one of the top 5 storms of the last few years according to stats on the isle of wight lightning site, any way strikes were getting too close for comfort and we were in a middle of a field on the flat romney marshes, we decided to turn around as cloud to ground strikes were all around, as we backed the hi lux up to a metal gate lightning struck the post and also the vehicle and my friend had what can only be described as sun burn to one side of his face, all i saw was a purple flash and a mega crack, we drove so quickly to get out of danger that we were jumping furrows in the ploughed field, that was a very scary experience.