Stephen Levine
EF4
What's the closest that you have ever been to lightning? How did it affect you?
There are three times that come to mind for me. One was in 1972 when I was living in SE Ohio. One night as I watched a storm about 15 miles to my north, I was standing under my apartment roof, by a huge field, and within feet of a barbed wire fence (was in my early 20's, you know we are invincible at that age!) A few huge drops started falling, kind of clanging on the generator that sat a few yards from me. Up to then I was backed up against the wall under the roof, but when the drops started, I stuck my hand out, thinking that it might be hail and wanting to see... at that split second, a HUGE waterfall of blue lightning descended the equivilant of two houses away. At the same time, a tremendous blast of thunder occurred, the force of which knocked me to my knees.
In the time it took to run around to the front porch, maybe 30 seconds, there were three more of these. The moon came out and shined a streak through the falling rain and I realized that I had come close to losing my life.
Another time was when I had gone on a storm chase in the Monadnock Region of SW New Hampshire in 1986. I finally reached the storm, and watched from the safety of my car with windows rolled up. One bolt landed a few yards from my drivers side window, hit the parking lot, and broke into tens of pieces that slithered like snakes across the pavement. It was AWESOME!!
The third time was when I was living in Houston, in 2005-6. One Late Fall night in '05, as I stood on my back patio watching a storm envelop us with mostly occasional C-C lightning flashes, a tremendous bolt struck a lightpole right across the road from my patio. Fortunately I saw it out of the corner of my eye, for it was multi-branched and even from a glance, it left a lingering ribbon in my eyes for awhile after. The blast from the thunder made my ears ring for awhile after. That was certainly a wakeup call!
There are three times that come to mind for me. One was in 1972 when I was living in SE Ohio. One night as I watched a storm about 15 miles to my north, I was standing under my apartment roof, by a huge field, and within feet of a barbed wire fence (was in my early 20's, you know we are invincible at that age!) A few huge drops started falling, kind of clanging on the generator that sat a few yards from me. Up to then I was backed up against the wall under the roof, but when the drops started, I stuck my hand out, thinking that it might be hail and wanting to see... at that split second, a HUGE waterfall of blue lightning descended the equivilant of two houses away. At the same time, a tremendous blast of thunder occurred, the force of which knocked me to my knees.
In the time it took to run around to the front porch, maybe 30 seconds, there were three more of these. The moon came out and shined a streak through the falling rain and I realized that I had come close to losing my life.
Another time was when I had gone on a storm chase in the Monadnock Region of SW New Hampshire in 1986. I finally reached the storm, and watched from the safety of my car with windows rolled up. One bolt landed a few yards from my drivers side window, hit the parking lot, and broke into tens of pieces that slithered like snakes across the pavement. It was AWESOME!!
The third time was when I was living in Houston, in 2005-6. One Late Fall night in '05, as I stood on my back patio watching a storm envelop us with mostly occasional C-C lightning flashes, a tremendous bolt struck a lightpole right across the road from my patio. Fortunately I saw it out of the corner of my eye, for it was multi-branched and even from a glance, it left a lingering ribbon in my eyes for awhile after. The blast from the thunder made my ears ring for awhile after. That was certainly a wakeup call!
