Lightning

[max]

Tuesday night about 8:30 we had some lightning and thunder in the area. I checked the radar and there were storms all around us.

I was in the basement when I heard and felt the loudest boom I have ever heard. I knew immediately that lightning had hit close. Within a split second of THE BOOM, there were 3 slightly smaller booms. I looked at the windows and all I could see were orange flames and very bright light from outside. This all happened in a split second. It reminded me of artillery rounds as each one seemed to get closer. It was also like on tv or in the movies when things start exploding in a line. I thought the house, maybe the neighbor's house or the gas line outside was exploding

I ran upstairs, not knowing if there was an upstairs anymore. I was yelling "Are we on fire?" Chris and Jill were both on their feet and scared also. Chris said she thought it was coming through the windows in the bedroom.

I went outside and all of the neighbors were out looking around. I was looking for fire on the roof or damage. I could see no obvious signs. The lights flickered, but did not go out.

We lost the tv, vcr, and vhs in our bedroom. Also lost a radio-cd player and the ceiling fan. In the basement, my new stereo was dead as were the modem, router and new Apple wireless unit and backup. The printer also seems badly injured. However the computer still seem ok. We also had some circuit breakers fried and we have had those replaced. We had those power strip/surge protectors on everything, but they didn't seem to work or maybe did all they could. We will get a whole house surge protector next week.

I don't think I have ever felt so helpless or vulnerable. It happened so fast and there was so much power being released.

The insurance adjuster said the refrigerator and other appliances might die within the next year or so. He said lightning does funny things to appliances.

I just got a new modem via UPS and Frontier, so am now able to communicate and get on the net. I have a whole new level of respect for Mother Nature.

 

[OKFC05]

I'd suggesst two things:

Get the house ground checked on your house and be sure you have an adequate ground at the house itself. Many houses rely on a ground at the transformer, and that leaves the run of wire into the house to act as an antenna.

Put a lightning arrestor at the house ground where the service enters the house, a big one like they put on irrigation pumps.

Your ground system on the house is probably seriously inadequate, and the lightning typically strikes UP through your ground wires!
A better ground and lightning arrestor are not a guarantee, but can greatly reduce the chance of another major burn-out. Every house I have ever bought, the gound was floating and there was no arrestor.

 

[DOEBOY1]

Lightning strikes are a horrible thing to happen to you, your family, and your electrician. Lightning can ruin your wiring in the house melting it together. I have worked on a few strikes and hate it. You can't pin point any problems where it went and what it took out or what will go out because of it. If I were you I would have my electrician open the panel and check everything in it to see if the is any visible damage. next I would leave for a few hours with the family and come back to smell the appliances (yes smell the appliances) for wire damage inside. The ones I worked or the home owner couldn't smell the burned wire smell I'm quessing because they had been in the house and stopped noticing. Checking your grounds is another thing Lighting also comes in on phone and cable lines. So running those lines through a good (read exspensive) surge arrestor is a great start. The best one also have a garentee to protect the componant. I would also add an extra ground rod or two with straight copper wire. Lightning will follow its own path in other words it will go straght when there is a big bend in the wire jumping to something else. good luck with it. Doeboy

 

[ladder13]

I know what it's like. About 5 years ago, I was sitting in the kitchen while a major storm was passing overhead. The sky was dark and it was raining buckets of water. I heard the loudest boom you could imagine and saw this huge flash of bright light. My fire alarm started with the "fire, fire, fire, leave the house" warning. I immediately ran upstairs(firefighter training as such to go in, not leave ), because it sounded as if the lightning had hit the roof, and I wanted to see if the roof was ablaze. I looked in the attic, there was no smoke nor gaping hole. Thank God for that. I then ran outside, after answering a call from the alarm dispatcher, they had already sent the local FD. I had attempted to let alarm dispatch know the FD was not needed, they told me they were on their way.
Seemed like they were there in only seconds, and I met them in the driveway. One of the officers came into the house and did a walkaround. Seeing nothing burning and detecting no smell of burning material, they left. I'm sure it was a busy day for them, and luckily my call came in during a lull in the action.
Some of the busiest times for FD's are during lightning storms, as it seems every alarm in the district goes off within minutes of each other.
I had some damage despite not having a working fire. A garage door opener, a TV, computer, well pump, and my alarm system were destroyed. All was taken care of by my insurance company.
I did look around my property and found that the lightning bolt hit a tree some 30 feet from my house, and ran into the ground. Just so happened the wiring for my well pump passed between the tree and the house. The energy from the lightning entered my house thru the pump wiring.
Was the loudest noise I ever heard in my life. A huge bolt landing some 45 feet from where I was sitting.

 

[Erich]

Wow, Max. Sorry for the hassle it caused, but glad it wasn't worse.

Closest my house ever got when I was a kid was when a couple of the huge oak trees got hit. What a noise. In my rural township in IN, a bolt appears to have come down someone's chimney yesterday afternoon - did a little damage to the house.

Chimney entry point for lightning strike on Lafayette house | Journal and Courier | jconline.com

Again, glad you're all right, amigo.

 

[HCD]

Sorry for your misfortune, please have your homes wiring system check by a qualified electrician the wiring inside the walls may have been damaged and that can go undetected for a long time resulting in a fire weeks, months, and years later. Then it is hard to prove it is the result of a lightning strike and insurance co. will give you a hard time.

As an aside we have had several strikes to homes in the area and the weather service has officially put our total tornadoes at 21. We expect FEMA here any minute with checks and manpower to help clean up and rebuild. Are they at your place yet???

 

[Capt Steve]

With the possible exception of Tampa, Tucson gets about as much lightning as anywhere in the country with most of it coming during our Monsoon...which is soon to commence. A couple of years ago I had our electrician install a lightning surge protector - Intermatic Panel Guard. It offers commercial grade protection that the manufacturer backs with a $10K guaranty. My electrician said that most damage is caused not by the strike (as not that many homes are actually struck), but by the subsequent power surges that inevitably follow. A good surge can cook your AC, frig, computer TV etc. It was $325 installed closer to $350 now.

 

[Erich]

Just made plans to head back to Tucson later in the year, Captain Steve - remember seeing some spectacular lightning there from the Loew's Ventana Canyon hotel.

 

[Capt Steve]

Just made plans to head back to Tucson later in the year, Captain Steve - remember seeing some spectacular lightning there from the Loew's Ventana Canyon hotel.

The monsoon is our favorite time of year. When we first came to Tucson we had a condo right next door to Loew'sthat came with our own private gate right onto the Ventana Canyon Trail head. We are about 20 miles north now but we sure get our share of lightning. Between the Monsoon coming and all the snow birds going it is hard to beat our Tucson summers....but it is a dry heat...just like a Pizza oven! (o;

 

[Erich]

A Magpie's pizza oven!

It's been too long since we've been to Tucson - hope you still have some lightning going when I'm there in August. Mmm, shucks, and now I'm thinking about Mi Nidito and El Güero Canelo . . .

 

[truckemup97]

Max, I'm glad it wasn't any worse. My inlaws had an experience very similar to yours and got all new appliances, TVs, etc. courtesy of State Farm. My neighbor's house was hit and had no damage to anything electrical, but for some reason, he decided to look in the attic and "check it out." Apparently the lightning hit the vent for the kitchen sink and caught the wood around the vent both in the roof and the ceiling on fire. It could have done considerable damage if he had not caught it.

As an aside, I was 30' from a combine once when it was hit by lightning. That was 21 years ago, and my ears are still ringing.

 

[seagill]

With the possible exception of Tampa, Tucson gets about as much lightning as anywhere in the country with most of it coming during our Monsoon...which is soon to commence. A couple of years ago I had our electrician install a lightning surge protector - Intermatic Panel Guard. It offers commercial grade protection that the manufacturer backs with a $10K guaranty. My electrician said that most damage is caused not by the strike (as not that many homes are actually struck), but by the subsequent power surges that inevitably follow. A good surge can cook your AC, frig, computer TV etc. It was $325 installed closer to $350 now.

you got that right! I justed moved here last year. We had a storm right after we arrived that had 1,700 lightning strikes in a 20 minute period. Looked like a strobe light flashing outside and the thunder was one continuous roar. That surge protector sounds like money well spent.

 

[MK]

It's streamers that determine where lightning strikes.
And yes, lightning often strikes the same place twice or more..
It's not ground wires that attract strikes, although ground is
what the down leaders are trying to connect with.
When you have lightning in the area, you have down leaders
that overcome the resistance of the air to ground. But as those
down leaders are surging towards earth, at the same time the
streamers are popping up from objects at or near the ground.
Wiring that is in the ground can't stream. There are no points
which are needed to promote streaming.
Sharp pointy objects are the ones most likely to cause streamer
formation. Which can be any protruding objects on the house such
as pipes, vents, antennas, etc.. Trees and the pointy leaves on them
stream easily. This is why trees are often struck. Even the hairs on a
persons head stream easily and can attract a down leader.
This is why many golfers get struck out on the golf courses.
They are on a flat section of earth with often few objects around
higher than they are. So they become attractive targets.
Most people usually don't see streamers as they are short compared
to the down leaders, and only last for the few seconds that they
are streaming. But at night, they can be seen. I have photos of them
in trees attracting strikes. If you have several of them in an area
vying for a down leader, they will actually bend in the direction of
the leader. But only one of those streamers will connect with the
down leader, and this is usually determined in the last 150 yards or
so of the leader connecting with earth. At the second the strike is
complete, all the area streamers poop out and vanish due to the
charge being routed to earth.
One can actually feel a streamer if it's coming from the persons
head or hair. You will often feel a tingly sensation. With a strong
streamer, you can often hear a slight crackling sound.
If one is ever outdoors and feels this sensation it means you are
a very likely target for a strike. In that case, the usual advice is to
crouch down into a ball as small as you can get yourself, but do not
touch ground with your hands. Even better would be to get indoors, or
jump into a car, etc.

Anyway... When a house is directly struck, that means something on it
was a good streamer and attracted a strike. In case like this, you need
lightning rods on the house to act as *better* streamers than the
objects on the house itself. They will attract the strike and route the
energy to ground in an orderly military manner. Which is down to ground
along ground conductors which is often wide metal flashing, or at least
suitable wire gauges.
If the strike energy is coming in on the power lines, you would need
lighting suppressors to deal with that. And like one mentioned, good
ones that are not useless toys are not cheap.
Check Polyphaser, etc for those..
As far as the ground, you want to make sure you don't have any
ground loops, or grounds connected in a bus type system.
You want one single ground point, and anything that is grounded,
including other wires should all be connected to that single point.
This is called star grounding. You don't want any differences in
potential. That is what will eat your lunch as far as all the goodies
in the house. If all grounds are at the same potential, no current
can flow between them.
I have to deal with lightning quite a bit being I'm a radio station..
I've taken direct strikes on my mast, which is 15 feet away from
where I'm sitting, and had no damage to anything whatsoever.
Also.. the sound of lightning can be a clue..
A LOUD strike means that what it hit was a poor conductor to ground.
Trees and houses will naturally be a poor conductor to ground, and
the energy dump will be HUGE. Makes a lot of noise.. Like a 12 gauge
stuck in your ear.
But a strike to an object that is well grounded makes very little noise.
When lighting strikes my antenna mast, it sounds about like a light
bulb that has been thrown on the ground outside my window.
Then I hear the louder overhead sonic boom. But no loud noise on
the actual strike. With a tree, you will get the shotgun effect, and
then an overhead sonic boom right after that. So with the OP's strike
as being uber loud, it likely struck the house, or a tree that was right
next to the house. To protect from that type of strike, you need
lighting rods on the house.
Well.. I just got a service call, so gotta run..
Maybe I'll think of more later.. :/

 

[Damn Yankee]

MK

I have heard that there is a smell in the air just before or after a strike. do you know any info on this?

 

[luis]

I am sorry to hear about the trouble you have had. I grew up in South Florida lightning capital of the world.

When I purchased my first home I had the luck of moving next door to an electrician that worked for a company that only worked on lightning and power protection.

They installed a triple protection system: electrical, cable and phone. While it did cost a heck of a lot of money I got a 10% yearly discount on my homeowners policy.

The system saved my house in 1996 when lightning hit an electrical pole. Two neighbors suffered major damage including one that had fire damage.

Moving to Illinois I had a hard time finding a commercial company that would install a unit in a home but I did find one. Now that I am a HAM the system is of more use.

 

[truckemup97]

MK

I have heard that there is a smell in the air just before or after a strike. do you know any info on this?

I'm not MK, but the smell is ozone. Something to do with oxygen crossing an electrical field causes it to become O3, which is ozone, instead of O2, which is oxygen. I used to know all this stuff, but other things seem to have filled my head. Ozone, in quantity, is poisonous, but what you are smelling after a lightning strike is in the very low parts per million and won't hurt anything.

 

[Rule 303]

Thunder always sounds like Artillery in the distance to me.

Rule 303

 

[rimfired]

I knew I wanted to quit golf for some reason. Then I see the world is going to end next month or so. Whats the trade-off?

 

[rimfired]

Thunder always sounds like Artillery in the distance to me.

Rule 303

I was on a four man OP in I corps in 71, we had to call in arty and lay flat on top of that 8x10 promintory as the rounds whistled over our heads. Just praying there wasn't a "short" round in there.