4 ms·

As somebody who has not been struck, but been damn close to a strike twice, I'd like to note that the folk wisdom that your hair stands up (like when you get go

As somebody who has not been struck, but been damn close to a strike twice, I'd like to note that the folk wisdom that your hair stands up (like when you get goosebumps, I guess? Not like an Einstein picture?) before a strike and gives you some kind of warning is utterly false. What you're supposed to do when so warned is is unclear, but nevermind that. How close is damn close? This summer I was doing some work on a house when a storm rolled in. Went inside and waited out some heavy wind, lightning and rain. 10 minutes after the rain let up, the guy I was looking at and I looked at each other, shrugged our shoulders and figured we'd get back to work. I went out to the patio and was pulling the tarp off the tablesaw when lightning struck. I reflexively count after a strike (I spend a lot of time in the woods), and the interval between the lightning and the thunder was long enough to register a lightning strike, but not to begin counting. Needless to say, we went back inside, packed up our stuff there, and started loading the truck. As we were doing so, a fire truck came by inquiring where we might find a nearby address. Knowing that address and the address of the house we were working on let me determine that we were about 80m away from the strike using Google maps. That's the second closest I've been. The closest was on the Appalachian Trail in 2010. I ducked into a shelter in the Shenandoahs to wait out a storm. The rain tapered off and stopped, and I figured I'd shove on for a few more miles before calling it a day (around 3:00 PM). As I was about to leave the shelter, lightning struck close enough that the lightning and thunder registered in my brain essentially simultaneously. Best estimate based on this summer's experience? 30m, maybe less? In neither case did my hair stand up. If you need to be closer to the location of the impending strike to observe the phenomenon, I reckon you're pretty well boned. If you're looking to not get struck by lightning in the first place, which seems advisable based on TFA, I'd suggest that the notion you're going to have some kind of warning before a strike is nonsense. I would similarly note that just because it seems like the storm has passed doesn't mean it has. In high school marching band, the rule was that a football game couldn't resume until an hour after the last lightning. It seemed ridiculous at the time. Now it seems well-founded.

LatteLazy 7y ago
The hair thing is a short range effect: if you were within say 10m then maybe. It's not intended for people with a mile or so. As you say, if you're close enough to feel it, you will likely get a face full of the tree or whatever it hit before you have time to recognize and react...
cobbzilla 7y ago
I’ll confirm your experience with one even closer. In HS I ran on our cross country team. One day at practice (after school), we had only made it less than a mile from the school when we heard a big thunderstorm coming and turned around to head back. The storm came on super quickly, we were inundated with water, thunder all around; we picked up the pace to get back to school faster. We were just a couple blocks from the school when lightning struck on the other side of the street. There was zero pause between lightning & thunder, it was simultaneous. It must have been about 8 meters away, or less. We were all scared shitless & the run turned into a sprint. We all made it back fine. There was no warning. When the lightning struck I could see it in my peripheral vision, and simultaneously also saw an electric arc from the sidewalk to the bottom of my front running foot. There was a tingly sensation but I only remember feeling that after the strike. Also, it was LOUD, as in I couldn’t hear well for the rest of the day, and my ears were ringing for a week.
mannykannot 7y ago
Hair standing up in proximity to a thunderstorm is a real phenomenon [1], and it happened to a friend of mine while canoeing on a lake. It does not necessarily mean that you are about to be struck, and it is not, apparently, commonly reported by people who are struck, or were close to a strike. Perhaps it requires an unusual combination of low humidity in the proximity of a thunderhead? [1] https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JYq41HtUWWs https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JYq41HtUWWs
atoav 7y ago
My closest one was a tree outside my window while I was inside with an opened window (maybe 7m). And I certainly felt some sort of static electricity before, paired with a slight smell of ozone (how a laser printer can smell when you print a lot). Boom and it was bright and incredibly loud. Nothing happened to me, but the tree burned on the inside.
wDcBKgt66V8WDs 7y ago
> been damn close ... 30m > that your hair stands up ... is utterly false Please stop, 30m is not close. This is advice given in wilderness first aid training for possible warning of being hit not a 30m miss. I'm going to trust them over you. *edit: should also say that in my WFA they said you may or may not feel it, and if you do feel it you may or may not have enough time to react to it. The only reaction you really have is "lightning position" which is a tight ball of a crouch. Lying down completely is thought to be more dangerous, so don't go diving. Also I've seen lightning about 30m off as well, it struck the mouth of a wooded trail I was considering exiting, my eyes were focused on the exact spot it struck. Hesitation probably saved me, though it was blinding and deafening. Thunder that close is really something else, absolutely the most violent sound I've heard in person.
- mauvehaus 7y ago
  I've heard the same advice about crouching, but have never been in a position where I've tried it. When canoeing, the advice I've heard is get to shore and crouch on your PFD for additional insulation. For sake of comparison, The article says a lightning strike releases about 500 MJ of energy. Wikipedia says a "standard" stick of dynamite contains about 1 MJ of energy[0]. In my estimation standing 30m from the (very rough) equivalent 500 sticks of dynamite going off counts as damn close. I realize this is a very rough comparison, but I'd guess that it's surely within an order of magnitude or two for comparison purposes. Joules are joules, but how they're released might be wildly different, we're way outside the realm of my expertise. I wouldn't want to be 30m from 50 sticks of dynamite going off, or even 5. I don't know how the sound would compare between dynamite, but I agree with your observation that a lightning strike at 30m is a hell of a noise. [0] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dynamite#Form https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dynamite#Form
  - wDcBKgt66V8WDs 7y ago
    Yeah I mean 30m is close from the perspective of something that ridiculous happening, but my point is the phenomenon of electrons moving to the point that you can actually sense it happening is localized to path of the lightning strike. Hence 30m is not close.
hirundo 7y ago
I was about 6m away from a boy killed by a lightning strike at the 1977 US Boy Scouts Jamboree. I did feel the static electricity on my skin and my ears rang for a few minutes.
jniedrauer 7y ago
I'm gonna join the "I've been closer" crowd. Twice, actually. I was outside in a storm when a tree was hit by lightning about 10 feet from me. The tree was split down the middle and rained debris all around me. A blue flame burned briefly and then disappeared. It was so close that the concussive force felt like being hit in the chest with a bat. Another time, I was standing on wet ground when lightning struck about 100 feet away. I felt the jolt of electricity through my shoes. Scared the crap out of me. I did not feel my hair standing up in either case. But neither of these would have hit me so it may not be relevant.
pge 7y ago
I can confirm that hair stands up on end when conditions are ripe for a strike. I have had it happen. Particularly for those with thin, wispy air, it was really sticking up. We got out of there fast. So I would say the folk wisdom is not utterly false in that there are times when it does happen and in some of those there is enough warning to get away, but I certainly would not count on it. In another incident, I was within 100m of a lightning strike (with no warning). Similar to what others below said, the thing I remember most was just how loud it was. One person was killed, 10 hospitalized. A number of the victims were blinded temporarily (measured in hours not minutes).
ubertakter 7y ago
I guess I'll chime in on being closer to strikes. In case you don't know how a strike occurs, as the charges build up and the field starts having enough potential to exceed the breakdown voltage of the air, little "feelers" develop, extending both from the cloud and objects on the ground. When two connect, if you are close enough, you can here what sounds like a very loud click, immediately followed by the "explosion" of thunder. More like a blast/explosion that what you would hear from farther away. Also, look in to "ground potential rise", which I learned all about after a lightning strike in my yard (while I was standing on the second floor of my house). Basically, the charge dissipates in the ground around a strike. This means that radially from the strike outward there is a voltage potential. And of course if you connect two points across the potential with less resistance than the ground, you get current flow. Incidentally, this is why you keep your feet as close together as possible if caught outside in a storm. And of course crouch so you aren't the tallest thing around.

LatteLazy 7y ago

The hair thing is a short range effect: if you were within say 10m then maybe. It's not intended for people with a mile or so. As you say, if you're close enough to feel it, you will likely get a face full of the tree or whatever it hit before you have time to recognize and react...

cobbzilla 7y ago

I’ll confirm your experience with one even closer. In HS I ran on our cross country team. One day at practice (after school), we had only made it less than a mile from the school when we heard a big thunderstorm coming and turned around to head back. The storm came on super quickly, we were inundated with water, thunder all around; we picked up the pace to get back to school faster. We were just a couple blocks from the school when lightning struck on the other side of the street. There was zero pause between lightning & thunder, it was simultaneous. It must have been about 8 meters away, or less. We were all scared shitless & the run turned into a sprint. We all made it back fine. There was no warning. When the lightning struck I could see it in my peripheral vision, and simultaneously also saw an electric arc from the sidewalk to the bottom of my front running foot. There was a tingly sensation but I only remember feeling that after the strike. Also, it was LOUD, as in I couldn’t hear well for the rest of the day, and my ears were ringing for a week.

mannykannot 7y ago

Hair standing up in proximity to a thunderstorm is a real phenomenon [1], and it happened to a friend of mine while canoeing on a lake. It does not necessarily mean that you are about to be struck, and it is not, apparently, commonly reported by people who are struck, or were close to a strike. Perhaps it requires an unusual combination of low humidity in the proximity of a thunderhead? [1] https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JYq41HtUWWs https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JYq41HtUWWs

atoav 7y ago

My closest one was a tree outside my window while I was inside with an opened window (maybe 7m). And I certainly felt some sort of static electricity before, paired with a slight smell of ozone (how a laser printer can smell when you print a lot). Boom and it was bright and incredibly loud. Nothing happened to me, but the tree burned on the inside.

wDcBKgt66V8WDs 7y ago

> been damn close ... 30m > that your hair stands up ... is utterly false Please stop, 30m is not close. This is advice given in wilderness first aid training for possible warning of being hit not a 30m miss. I'm going to trust them over you. *edit: should also say that in my WFA they said you may or may not feel it, and if you do feel it you may or may not have enough time to react to it. The only reaction you really have is "lightning position" which is a tight ball of a crouch. Lying down completely is thought to be more dangerous, so don't go diving. Also I've seen lightning about 30m off as well, it struck the mouth of a wooded trail I was considering exiting, my eyes were focused on the exact spot it struck. Hesitation probably saved me, though it was blinding and deafening. Thunder that close is really something else, absolutely the most violent sound I've heard in person.

mauvehaus 7y ago
I've heard the same advice about crouching, but have never been in a position where I've tried it. When canoeing, the advice I've heard is get to shore and crouch on your PFD for additional insulation. For sake of comparison, The article says a lightning strike releases about 500 MJ of energy. Wikipedia says a "standard" stick of dynamite contains about 1 MJ of energy[0]. In my estimation standing 30m from the (very rough) equivalent 500 sticks of dynamite going off counts as damn close. I realize this is a very rough comparison, but I'd guess that it's surely within an order of magnitude or two for comparison purposes. Joules are joules, but how they're released might be wildly different, we're way outside the realm of my expertise. I wouldn't want to be 30m from 50 sticks of dynamite going off, or even 5. I don't know how the sound would compare between dynamite, but I agree with your observation that a lightning strike at 30m is a hell of a noise. [0] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dynamite#Form https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dynamite#Form
- wDcBKgt66V8WDs 7y ago
  Yeah I mean 30m is close from the perspective of something that ridiculous happening, but my point is the phenomenon of electrons moving to the point that you can actually sense it happening is localized to path of the lightning strike. Hence 30m is not close.

hirundo 7y ago

I was about 6m away from a boy killed by a lightning strike at the 1977 US Boy Scouts Jamboree. I did feel the static electricity on my skin and my ears rang for a few minutes.

jniedrauer 7y ago

I'm gonna join the "I've been closer" crowd. Twice, actually. I was outside in a storm when a tree was hit by lightning about 10 feet from me. The tree was split down the middle and rained debris all around me. A blue flame burned briefly and then disappeared. It was so close that the concussive force felt like being hit in the chest with a bat. Another time, I was standing on wet ground when lightning struck about 100 feet away. I felt the jolt of electricity through my shoes. Scared the crap out of me. I did not feel my hair standing up in either case. But neither of these would have hit me so it may not be relevant.

pge 7y ago

I can confirm that hair stands up on end when conditions are ripe for a strike. I have had it happen. Particularly for those with thin, wispy air, it was really sticking up. We got out of there fast. So I would say the folk wisdom is not utterly false in that there are times when it does happen and in some of those there is enough warning to get away, but I certainly would not count on it. In another incident, I was within 100m of a lightning strike (with no warning). Similar to what others below said, the thing I remember most was just how loud it was. One person was killed, 10 hospitalized. A number of the victims were blinded temporarily (measured in hours not minutes).

ubertakter 7y ago

I guess I'll chime in on being closer to strikes. In case you don't know how a strike occurs, as the charges build up and the field starts having enough potential to exceed the breakdown voltage of the air, little "feelers" develop, extending both from the cloud and objects on the ground. When two connect, if you are close enough, you can here what sounds like a very loud click, immediately followed by the "explosion" of thunder. More like a blast/explosion that what you would hear from farther away. Also, look in to "ground potential rise", which I learned all about after a lightning strike in my yard (while I was standing on the second floor of my house). Basically, the charge dissipates in the ground around a strike. This means that radially from the strike outward there is a voltage potential. And of course if you connect two points across the potential with less resistance than the ground, you get current flow. Incidentally, this is why you keep your feet as close together as possible if caught outside in a storm. And of course crouch so you aren't the tallest thing around.