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

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).