Anyone Witnessed A "Bolt Out Of The Blue?"

[TSJMajesty]

I just did! Pretty freaky!

I have a couple big piles of grass clippings that I need to burn, but they've been too wet. So I try to let them dry until just before a storm.

Well, I hear some thunder, so I go outside to gather them onto my burn pile, checking the radar, and see the storm is still about 20 miles to my west. Ok, I have time.

It's still a bit light out, and mostly clear skies directly over and around me, but over towards the horizon it's just starting to get dark, I hear some pretty deep rumbling, so I'm thinking this may be a good one.

I'm looking down as I'm raking my pile, and I catch this really bright flash, which since the storm is still pretty far off, I'm definitely not expecting, and just as I look up, I see this dazzle of branching lightning darting across the sky above me to the north! Amazing and scary at the same time.

Now I'm thinking, what's that saying..., "When thunder roars, go indoors." As I'm reminded that yes, lightning can jump out of a storm as much as 25 miles or so. From how long it took until I heard the thunder, I figured it to have been about 2 miles up. Yet the storm was still about 20 miles away!

Yeah, the odds are extremely slim, but I did hear about that golfer who got struck by one, so yeah, I'm going inside.

But it's still cool to experience something like that!

And after all that, it looks like the storm is going to pass by me to the south. Dammit. I love thunderstorms!

Anybody have any good lightning stories?

 

[FuzzyAce]

Anybody have any good lightning stories?

I grew up on a bayou in FL, and my high school buddy at the time had a nice jet ski. Every so often we'd take it out into the bay to go skiing or wakeboarding. Well, one afternoon we ventured out into the bay to do our thing. Later on the skies began to rumble and the water was getting choppy, so we headed back. Of course I had to wakeboard on the way in and at some point I wiped out maybe 200 yds from shore. My buddy had stopped and as he did the rope slack got sucked up into the jet ski. We could not untangle it at all. It was stuck.

By this time the thunder and rain were picking up and lightning was starting to appear. We already had the jet ski turned over so we started paddling back by hand. Luckily it was a big jet ski so we had room to lay on top somewhat. We worked our way to the mouth of the bayou when suddenly lightning started striking around us. I swear the hairs on my body were tingling. We paddled like we'd never paddled before, through blasts and downpour. We were freaking out, and I thought we might actually die that day. Fortunately we were able to paddle into the bayou and worked our way over to a neighbor's yard. We beached the ski and ran back to his house as fast as we could.

 

[TSJMajesty]

Of course I had to wakeboard on the way in

We used to go knee-boarding almost every day after work, and there was more than one time a storm would come up, and someone would want to ride back to the ramp. The rule was, you wipe out, get in the boat. I think we cut it close once or twice, but never like your story.

We did have to hole up under a bridge once though. It was a fairly low bridge, so we were protected enough that we could just enjoy the "fireworks" around us.

Good times.

Before I die, I want to experience a close-up lightning strike. Close enough that I can see it strike the ground. Close enough to scare TF out of me!

I've heard some strike that close, but I wasn't in a position to actually see where it struck. Like, the flash and thunder are at the same time, close. Which if you've never experienced it, it is LOUD!!

 

[DrewJD82]

Yep, my 2nd or 3rd week living down here. My dad and I were in the computer room which faced a canal that was about 20 feet from the apartment. Sky turned a little gray, not dark like it does in the summer when lightning struck a tree overhanging the canal. I’ve never heard something that loud from nature before. My dad was hyperventilating for a good 5 minutes, he doesn’t deal with surprise very well. I was definitely stunned, my adrenaline was kicked up a bit for sure. That was the only time I’ve seen lightning precede a thunderstorm/rain, but certainly not the last it’s hit nearby. That’s a yearly event down here.

 

[la szum]

Haha! That is exactly why they tell us to seek shelter at the first hint of a thunderstorm (either sound or a distant flash).

If anyone thinks they can run and react in time they don't know what the speed of lightning is---about 200,000mph.

 

[la szum]

When we were teens we would go sit in freshly cut hay fields in our cars and trucks, crank the tunes, and
watch the lightning all around us. Great memory!

A not so great memory is crossing a big lake in an aluminum canoe at 14. I thought we were going to die!
We had been swimming at the mouth of a river where it rolls into Lake Michigan. Skies get dark and wind
picks up. We better leave. Halfway across the lake with my friend and I paddling like mad the fury was
unleashed. Very fortunate that day!

 

[DrewJD82]

When we were teens we would go sit in freshly cut hay fields in our cars and trucks, crank the tunes, and
watch the lightning all around us. Great memory!

A not so great memory is crossing a big lake in an aluminum canoe at 14. I thought we were going to die!
We had been swimming at the mouth of a river where it rolls into Lake Michigan. Skies get dark and wind
picks up. We better leave. Halfway across the lake with my friend and I paddling like mad the fury was
unleashed. Very fortunate that day!

The first time I brought my ex-wife down here to check it out we went on an airboat/gator tour in the Everglades. About 20 minutes into it you just see crazy lightning going off on the horizon so the guide tells us we’re going to head back. The ex thought the gators were cute and had no problem getting inches from them, but once that lightning started she started shaking her leg, which everyone on the boat could feel. The guide called her out for it and made it worse saying “We should be good, we’ve got 2 minutes before it’s over the top of us”

 

[la szum]

There's no T-storms like Florida Swamp T-Storms.