Lightening

[Cindy Blankenship]

Did anyone else notice how close the lightening was last night? Or actually early this a.m. We were up late on our computers. I think the formula is count seconds between lightening and the following thunder clap. Each second equals approx on mile. It started off like over 7 miles away and progressively got closer till around I think about 1 or 2 a.m. It was right on top of the house/yard. Not even a second between, almost simultaneous. We shut windows till it passed. Scary. One of my friends who lived in HPP during that huge lightening storm a couple years ago got zapped when she grabbed the metal handle to her freezer. Also don't use water or electrical appliances. Best if you can unplug them before it gets too close for comfort.

I'm a chicken I know.



http://www.CoconutRoads.com
"Taking you to the Heart of Hawaii"

[Bob Orts]

Cindy, I really don't want to scare you but a lightning strike 1 mile away will be heard about 4 or 5 seconds later. So if it was 7 seconds between seeing and hearing, I believe the lightning was just under a mile and a half away, not seven miles. That's close!

[Carolann R]

Mister Chuy doesn't like thunder and lightening. Ergo, I had a fur barnicle on my back last night in bed LOL!

Carrie

http://www.carrierojo.etsy.com
http://www.vintageandvelvet.blogspot.com

"Freedom has a scent like the top of a newborn baby's head..." U2

[Cindy Blankenship]

quote:

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a lightning strike 1 mile away will be heard about 4 or 5 seconds later.

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Yikes. You are right Bob.
http://www.lightningsafety.noaa.gov/distance.htm

So when is a good time to get off computer, unplug things, shut windows?
Or cr#! here it comes again - makai of here on 22nd - in the distance but that's where it started last night.

I'll go read that safety site I just posted (read it a couple years ago but my memory fails me) and maybe find out.

Cindy

http://www.CoconutRoads.com
"Taking you to the Heart of Hawaii"

[Lopi T]

We're in Keaukaha/Hilo, and I was woken up by the thunder last night and started counting as well. It was loud last night, but not as loud as the thunder I heard about two months ago. My wife and I had both fallen asleep already, and we were both blasted awake to the loudest noise I have ever heard in my life. The loudest, scariest, blast of noise EVER! And I grew up in the midwest where lightning actually struck my house once. That wasn't as loud as this was. I literally went outside thinking a bomb had gone off.

I woke up last night and was scared it was going to happen again! I heard some thunder in the distance that would have been as loud if it had been closer. That was probably down by you guys, huh?

"It's not who you are underneath, but what you do that defines you"

[Cindy Blankenship]

Bob, or any other lightening safety experts, I just found this on that NOAA Lightening Safety site I just posted, this time under
Indoors Safety:
http://www.lightningsafety.noaa.gov/indoors.htm

"Do not lie on concrete floors and do not lean against concrete walls."

The reason is that there will be wire mesh or metal bars in the concrete. But what if you have concrete under your floor like under the vinyl or pergo? And you sleep on a futon on the floor? I think they mean to just not come into direct contact with the concrete? Yes?
Yes? There went another fingernail...

It also says to stay away from windows. I always thought that meant open windows though. Lightening doesn't enter through glass - does it? Unless we sit in the closet, we can't avoid being in front of windows - unless we stretch out flat on the floor, with the concrete under it.

I never worried about this stuff before until my friend got zapped here in HPP and lightening was actually striking the ground in her yard. In Oregon it always seems so far away and
I just stayed off the phone, etc. if it seemed close.

I'm going to bring in the kitty litter box just in case I need to lock them indoors. Two of them stayed in last night, but the third panicked
and shot out the pet door into the storm...probably to take cover curled up under the car - on the concrete floor.




http://www.CoconutRoads.com
"Taking you to the Heart of Hawaii"

[jerry]

Telephones are especially dangerous. Lightening can travel a great distance on the surface of the ground and enter phone and electric lines.

I am very cautious. When I hear or see lightening I turn off the computers and unplug them. Same with the phones. Last year the very first flash and the sound (both impressive) occurred simultaneously. It blew out a transformer a few lots away. No time to prepare for that one.

Jerry
Art and Orchids B&B
http://www.artandorchids.com

[Cindy Blankenship]

Carolann, is Mr. Chuy a cat? If so, I hope your barnacle wasn't attached with claws. My Shadow bolted when I jumped up from my desk. If I hadn't of jumped, I could have got him to the couch with the rest of us. Jerry, I thought the lightening and thunder hit simultaneous last night. So that probably means it's pretty damn close. The flash I saw appeared to be in the vacant lot next door, but I didn't stick around to look (I was counting and heading to the window to shut it real quick when it flashed with a boom right after, and then both at the same time about the time I dove into the closet - because I couldn't exit the room and stay away from the window. Lopi, I remember that loud one two months ago!! It woke me up too. My son who was already up (night owl) that night said it felt like an earthquake, that it shook the house. And you know guys when weather frightens a Midwestern gal, it's gotta be big.

Thank you for sharing. I feel better now. Not safer, but better.

I've missed this forum, but since we moved back to Hawaii last year, we've moved twice and I was struggling with work and all. I'm still busy but more settled.

Thanks again

Cindy

[Cindy Blankenship]

One more site: http://www.fema.gov/kids/sabrina.htm
It's for kids but there are some tips in here that many might now know. The author was actually hit by lightening in the Grand Canyon.
This says that lightening can strike from miles away. Anything less than 10 (2 seconds between flash and thunder) is close enough to take all the precautions. Good article though.

Good night...

Cindy

[Greg]

Quote:
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"I am very cautious. When I hear or see lightening I turn off the computers and unplug them. Same with the phones. Last year the very first flash and the sound (both impressive) occurred simultaneously. It blew out a transformer a few lots away. No time to prepare for that one."
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Good advice. Also make sure to unplug all peripherals (printer, speakers, phone lines, etc)that may be wired to your computer.

I have everything plugged into a UPC. At the first thunder clap I shut down, turn the UPC off, then unplug it. (overkill?)