thunderstorms

[Gerianne]

We have had a few storm this summer.
It is considered rainy season down here in Florida.
Hurricane season is from June to November.
Last evening, some time after six o'clock, a storm came with loud cracks of thunder and lightening.
I was  eating dinner by the pool half an hour before it started.
A neighbor  came out for here evening walk and opened the side door of the building for me [ I have a walker.]
She continued on her walk.
We both made it inside in time
I  always keep my window blinds closed when a storm comes because of a story someone told me years ago. Lightening came inside her window and struck the electric outlet just under the window.

[countrygirl12]

We have had a few storm this summer.
It is considered rainy season down here in Florida.
Hurricane season is from June to November.
Last evening, some time after six o'clock, a storm came with loud cracks of thunder and lightening.
I was  eating dinner by the pool half an hour before it started.
A neighbor  came out for here evening walk and opened the side door of the building for me [ I have a walker.]
She continued on her walk.
We both made it inside in time
I  always keep my window blinds closed when a storm comes because of a story someone told me years ago. Lightening came inside her window and struck the electric outlet just under the window.

I don't believe that.  I have heard people say lightening can come in thru your window all the time but mostly just as an old wives tale thing.  I think it would be highly unlikely that something like that could happen.  Lightening could strike your house but I don't believe come thru your window.

I am not calling you a liar just saying I have heard stories like that before and I don't believe them.  When it is storming bad I usually watch out the window.  lol

[freedavis]

We also in Delaware had storms from that clod front.  It was heavy winds and lighting real bad.

[caleshire]

We hardly have any storms here wish we can have some because its really dry and need a lots of rain.

[CharmedPhoenix]

We have had a few storm this summer.
It is considered rainy season down here in Florida.
Hurricane season is from June to November.
Last evening, some time after six o'clock, a storm came with loud cracks of thunder and lightening.
I was  eating dinner by the pool half an hour before it started.
A neighbor  came out for here evening walk and opened the side door of the building for me [ I have a walker.]
She continued on her walk.
We both made it inside in time
I  always keep my window blinds closed when a storm comes because of a story someone told me years ago. Lightening came inside her window and struck the electric outlet just under the window.

I don't believe that.  I have heard people say lightening can come in thru your window all the time but mostly just as an old wives tale thing.  I think it would be highly unlikely that something like that could happen.  Lightening could strike your house but I don't believe come thru your window.

I am not calling you a liar just saying I have heard stories like that before and I don't believe them.  When it is storming bad I usually watch out the window.  lol

Lightening is attracted to electricity.  Danion Brinkley had a life changing experience, after lightening struck him, in his house, while talking on his phone (a corded landline).  His book is Saved by the Light.

[monnee]

It's cloudy and muggy today.  I hope it rains too.

[jenniferhoder]

We had horrible storms yesterday too in michigan! We lost power too! I was almost late for work!!!

[patycake56]

Alabama had over 6 inxhes of rain in June that was a record for us

[dansah]

I don't think whether you have the blinds open or not has anything to do with whether or not lightning will strike.  It is best to be safe than sorry though 

[wendyr19]

I would have to agree with the other posts. It's unlikely that lightning will come through your window, and I don't believe keeping the blinds down will make any difference. If it happens, it's going to happen whether the window is open or not and whether the blinds are up or down. I live in south Florida and we've had rain just about every day. Huge claps of thunder and lightning in the morning and then rain on and off for the rest of the day. I don't mind the rain cause it keeps the the temperature down, but the humidity is really thick after a rain storm.

[kapeh12]

We've had quite a few series of severe storms over the past few weeks.  Unfortunately most of them have been occurring around midnight, and have been severe, so there have been some sleepy work mornings the day after, having not gone to sleep at my usual time.

I've had a fascination with lightening and storms since I was a kid.  Regarding lightening being "attracted" to electricity, that is a myth.  Basically lightening is on such a large scale that little wires in a house or on poles along the ground have no impact on the functionality.

The basics of lightening is primarily the result of the build up of negative ions at the base of a thundercloud (the positive ions are found at the top of the cloud).  This results in the ground taking on a positive charge.  As the charged ions build, like most rules of electricity, the negative ions want to find a ground.  The ions from the clouds start sending out streams called "leaders" which "step" in all directions (sideways, up, down).  The positively charged ground also starts sending upward leaders (also called "streamers").  When a downward and upward leader connect, ground is achieved and the electric discharge occurs.  The interesting thing is the "bolt" of lightening we see is actually not electricity flowing down from the cloud, it's actually electricity flowing up into the cloud.

A good explanation with a link to a nice slow motion capture of a strike demonstrates this at this site:  http://ec.gc.ca/foudre-lightning/default.asp?lang=En&n=9353715C-1

As far as strikes inside the house - though it's not the bolt itself striking the wiring, if a strike does hit a house or nearby - due to he massive amount of electricity being discharged, but proximity, the flow of electricity may jump to a nearby ground when flowing - which could include metal pipes or electrical housing wires.  And since it's so massive a discharge, that flow could easily rip through a whole section of house wiring making it appear that the lightening struck inside the house, when it probably struck outside and the electricity was conducted inside via the laws of physics.

This is why during an electrical storm it's recommended to stay away from windows/walls with electrical wiring, not to run appliances or other electrical equipment, and not to take a shower (yes, water can conduct electricity too).

Hope some find this interesting.

[spdunne]

Hi,

I live in Northeastern Pennsylvania. We have been having thunderstorms on and off for a week. They can get bad here. A few years ago my home was struck twice. It should have caused a fire but did not. Our washing machine had black soot from the strike. You could see it hit twice.

I grew up in NY. People used to say do not use the phone during lightning storms. I have heard twice of a person dying from that there.

Sandy

[melissajh44]

Thunderstorms still scare me. I've heard the same about not using the phone while there's a thunderstorm.

[lguzman1]

I totally afraid of thunderstorms. We don't have them much her in California, but when we do they are scary to me. I see the news sometimes when you guys have storms and they are really bad. Wish luck this time around.

[Forp]

yes we having brief ones.  Only experienced a bad one with a lot of yard damage one time.