Whoa!!!! It's a good thing nobody was sitting under that tree.
The closest I ever got to a lightning strike was one day sitting on the front porch of my in laws house with her sister, brother and their spouses. There was thunder off in the distance, but nothing, not even rain near us. We would not have been sitting outside, since my sister in law was afraid of lightning. All of a sudden an explosion went off right in front of the porch! I thought my brother in law had thrown a giant fire cracker, since we had been teasing him. We found out later lightning had hit a utility pole about 50 yards down the hill and came up and jumped from the last pole, about 20 ft or so, to the well head just in front of the porch we were sitting on. No one was hurt, but we didn’t waste any time getting back in the house.
I can’t even imagine being any closer to an actual strike! The power was amazing.
I had a similar event. Lightning hit a tree on the street where I was driving. Scared the hell out of me.
My wife gave me one of the best birthday gifts I've ever received about 6 years ago -- an AccuWeather weather station.
It's on a stand in front of the house right now measuring ongoing temperature, rainfall, wind speed and humidity -- and the only maintenance it needs is an occasional battery for its RF connected indoor display.
We see its readings every day and I'll hugely recommend one for anyone with any interest in their local weather.
sounds like a cool gadget. I have fibromyalgia, and my weather predictions are never wrong
@TheoryNumber3 Well you save money by not having to buy batteries to know the weather.
@TheoryNumber3
It's the real deal. I suspect that local schools use ones like it and also connect over the web to a national database.
My ex got one for x-mas, it also could project the time on the ceiling. It left with him.
@silverotter11
Was that good or bad? I don't know whether to say ha, ha or not.
@RichCC Well let's see; I told him he had to make a choice, get his drinking under control or leave. Personally I think he choose poorly but then I do not understand addiction to booze. He was a reall nice guy otherwise. Did not really miss him, the weather station yes.
@silverotter11
I can vaguely from the outside see his position -- but it's tragic.
I've known some close people with serious drinking problems including my father and grandfather.
My strong mother was pretty much the only thing that kept everything together and I have an idea how hard it can be. Best to you.
@silverotter11 ... I totally get it. My husband was a great guy. Smart, funny, kind. He just couldn't get his drinking under control, though he tried and tried. I had to divorce him because it was such an unhealthy environment for our teenage son, but we remained a close family living apart. He died a few years later from complications of alcoholism. Broke my heart.