Lol, reminds me of a trip to Slovenia. On the summit we could see the storm in the distance and decided to give it legs. About half way down with only some scrambling left we had to make use of our helmets again to protect us from some massive hailstones followed by some terrifying lightening. The wine tasted so good that night!
Some years ago when I was a driver and a diver, I’d got decompression sickness-the bends- and I had an appointment with a decompression chamber in Hull.
Travelling along the M18 it started to pelt it down, I was driving through a continuous wall of rain, and it was thundering and lightning.
Eventually the car spluttered to a halt, the engine was flooded. I managed to pull onto the hard shoulder and got out of the car. It was terrifying , heavy rain and vehicles speeding past.
No mobile phone, I didn’t own one.
I climbed over motorway barrier and pondered the situation, they were expecting me at the chamber for 2.00pm. I was %&#@=?.
I looked through the torrential rain, and spied a solitary building. Scrambling down the banking, I found an haulage firm, the gate was open, I went into the office and found the office cleaner who allowed me to use the phone.
I called the AA and then the staff at the decom chamber and appraised them of the situation.
I returned to the car, it was stilling thundering and lightning, I stayed the safe side of the barrier, put my feet together and crouched down. I’d read that was the safe thing to do in a storm.
I saw lightning strike the ground twice, ¼ of mile away to my right and just across the motorway.
The AA arrived, he was ex-forces, he told me to get in the car, he got to work under the bonnet, in the p%&#ing down rain.
After 20 minutes, he decided to tow me to the decom chamber. We slowly did the journey to Hull through all that crap.
On arrival there, I left him with the car and went for my appointment with the consultant.
I was just climbing into the chamber, he turned up and said “it’s done mate got it dried and started”- by this time it had stopped raining-he handed me the car keys.
Four hours later, I climbed out of the chamber and into my car and drove home.
I decided to get a mobile phone and I always unplug when there’s any sign of a storm. They can be terrifying.
I don’t know if the traffic situation made it safe to stay in the car, but in general regarding lightning it’s safer in the car than outside, though it would not be a happy experience, either:
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Faraday’s cage?
The traffic situation was bad, rain and poor visibility.
Yes, like a Faraday’s cage, but one with windows that have embedded wires, electronics inside, and an antenna sticking out. It’s much better than being outside, but still not enjoyable if hit by lightning - see the link.
About the traffic - that’s why I said I don’t know. I’m sure there are situations where a car parked on the shoulder in torrential rain is more likely to be hit by another car at full speed, than you are likely to be hit by lightning outside. It’s a judgement call in this case.
However, in any situation where the car can be parked somewhat safely, protection against lighting is much better in the car than crouched next to it.
It’s safe inside a car, it’s a faraday cage.
See the link I posted. I did say it’s safer that’s the whole point of why I recommended it over being crouched next to the car, but it’s not enjoyable if the rear window explodes.
It’s also not safe if the car is parked on the shoulder in very bad visibility if another car crashes into it, which was a possible scenario in the conditions that were described. In some cases you might be better off by leaving it.
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Well remember most cars are NOT Faraday cages, otherwise things like mobile phones or tag transponders would not work inside… lot of ‘false’ info on web about this… rather the car exterior provides a path as an imperfect lightning conductor.
So yes a strike to a car would have the current likely pass through some of the metal of the exterior, but expect massive heating and possible/likely fires and melting, explosively shattering glass with metal elements in, exploding tyres, fried internal electrics/electronic systems and even exploding petrol tank… personally I would get as far away as I could if I felt the car was exposed and there was lightning around me if I could… and if I had no choice the vehicle would give me and the other occupants some protection but I would expect some injury as well from burning or shrapnel.
A typical flash of lightning discharges around 30kA (at around 300 MV) … that is a lot of heat even if low resistance.
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Interesting as we had 2 random strikes about 15-20 years ago. By random I mean no warning at all, just a cloudy afternoon in Thornbury north of Bristol.
I was looking out the window, then boom, i guess about 500m away a large ground strike. Power went off in the area, one channel dead.
2nd one wasn’t at home, but heard of a storm on the radio. Got home only one channel of CDX not working.
In both instances, a damaged small capacitor was to blame. Luckily this was Naim old school mode, meaning I was working at Salisbury General Hospital many days that month and the service guys said “hey just drop by and we’ll take a look” fixed in minutes and no charge!
So we always say to our son, who’s living there at the moment, slightest signs, unplug.
Some years ago I was on a long-distance route in the Dolomites, of which the final day involved a descent of a via ferrata in the late afternoon. But the weather was in a pattern of afternoon thunderstorms and being attached to what is effectively a lightning conductor is not a good place to be in such weather. So I am afraid we abandoned the route prematurely, but at least we survived.
Roger
That poses an interesting question - what is the ground as far as lightning is concerned, ground being the end of the strike? A building, tree etc is a tall thing protruding from the ground is clearly not the ground. By extension to that it seems reasonable to think of a tall, narrow rock (stack) as not the final destination of the strike. But when it is a large mass of rock, such as a mountain, or edge of a raised plateau, and a person is climbing on a cliff on the side, will the person, or a metal cable, however long, not sticking up above the top of the cliff, attract lightning? I suppose it depends on what is the distribution in the ground when the lightning strikes - some light reading needed! (But better to avoid testing for oneself!)
I was involved in a lot of car testing in the past that included simulated lightning strikes.
OK I should have said its safe to sit in your car as it acts in a way similar to a faraday cage.
No telling what damage the car may take, thats another story, any & all is possible.
While fretting over lost music playing time due to unplugging because of lightning risp, spare a thought for anyone living around Lake Maracaibo in Venezuela - it apparently receives the more lightning strikes than anywhere else on Earth: Massive thunderstorms occur on 140-160 nights per year with an average of 28 lightning strikes per minute lasting up to 10 hours at a time…
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Stormzy plays a lot there then?
(I’ll get me coat)
What did they recommended, stay in the car, under it, or far away from it ( but not close trees) ?
Some years ago a strike stroke a dozen of teenagers playing football, on an open soccer field.
Sometimes, apart a concrete building, it’s difficult to know where it’s best to hide.
If you’re out in the open, lie down! If you’re close to woodland, (lots of trees), and nothing else, either lid down, or go into the wood, away from its edges, avoiding if possible the odd taller trees, and not standing close to the trunk of any.
If you’re in the open don’t use an umbrella!
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Stay in the car, just as I said in my previous post, the metal car body acts like a faraday cage.
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But I may be roasted like a chicken inside
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Coq au van
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PS: Vin. ( just to correct). How do you name it in UK. Wine chicken ?