Lightning Question

[Keith Wilson]

Folks in here have certainly witnessed thousands of lightning bolts, so I would like to present this question:

What is the farthest that you have witnessed a lightning bolt striking from the parent storm?

I ask because the general consensus is that lightning can strike up to 10 miles from a storm, but I witnessed a bolt arc across clear skies from a storm just east of Ebro, FL and strike near the I-10 exit in DeFuniak Springs, FL.
As the crow flies, that is a distance of a little over 20 miles. The storm was the only one around for 50+ miles at the time (4 years ago).

 

[Dan Robinson]

Even given that storms in the tropics can top 70k ft, that would be extremely anomalous. Given a 60,000 high storm is about 11 miles, it would be unexpected for a storm to generate a bolt more than twice the distance that it is high. The most extreme examples I've seen photos of were probably no more than 7-8 miles or so, assuming that the storm was 45,000-50,000 feet high and estimating the lightning's horizontal distance proportionately.

Do you remember the date? It would be interesting to correlate radar and NLDN data.

 

[Rob Wadsworth]

Folks in here have certainly witnessed thousands of lightning bolts, so I would like to present this question:

What is the farthest that you have witnessed a lightning bolt striking from the parent storm?

I ask because the general consensus is that lightning can strike up to 10 miles from a storm, but I witnessed a bolt arc across clear skies from a storm just east of Ebro, FL and strike near the I-10 exit in DeFuniak Springs, FL.
As the crow flies, that is a distance of a little over 20 miles. The storm was the only one around for 50+ miles at the time (4 years ago).

Back in the day, they had an expression for that kind of strike. It was called 'a bolt from the blue'. That very same expression also began to be used as slang, expressing ones own shock and disbelief of any event that suddenly arose from nowhere.

IIRC; that kind of long-distance bolt originates from the upper anvil itself and is supposed to be the most powerful kind of electrical discharge.

 

[Keith Wilson]

Sorry Dan, but I don't remember the date, only that it was in 2008 (the year my father passed away). I have seen bolts leap 7-10 miles several times and didn't realize at the time just how unusual this one was until I researched it as an afterthought. It came to mind again a few of weeks ago when a mildly electical storm over Choctawhatchee Bay south of me threw out a bolt which struck just across the street from my house in DeFuniak Springs. It is 18 miles to the bay, but the edge of the anvil was just south of us. My wife had just stepped out onto the front porch and nearly tore the door off of the frame trying to get back in.

Rob, you are correct. This bolt did originate from the extreme upper region of the storm, though the anvil was actually being blown off toward the east away from me.

 

[Bob Schafer]

I have seen similar types of strikes at least a couple times... maybe along the lines of 12 to 15 miles. I don't remember when or where, but I remember my surprise and utter disbelief. I also vividly remember one single horizontal bolt that spanned practically an entire storm for at least 20 miles. Again, I have no idea of where or when. From near my house in E CO I can see the power plant in Lamar, which is known to be 20 miles away, so I do have a grasp of the depth perception necessary, and I'm telling you that lightning bolt was EASILY that length.

From some points east of Denver you can see Pikes Peak and Long's Peak simultaneously. Easily. Those mountains are roughly 100 miles apart. That aforementioned lightning bolt may have been THAT long. I'm serious. Real jaw-dropper.