How a lightning strike can kill, even when it misses you.

[journeyman713]

A bolt of lightning coming to the ground, isn’t much unlike the static shock you get after shuffling your feet on the carpet then touch something grounded. An imbalance of electrical potential just trying to find the easiest path to neutralize.

In summary,
When a lightning bolt hits the ground, there is so much power to dissipate, it can take a large area to absorb it. Let’s say a 50 feet diameter, before the ¼ billion Volts goes into the ground. So, if you are 30 feet away from impact, you might have one foot in 10 million Volts, and the other foot in 9 million Volts. A million-volt differential between your feet, it will pass through your body in an instant. Theoretically, you’d have a much better chance, if you were standing on one foot. So think small, cover less space, don't lie down.

There’s more than just Volts that defines the potential of power, it’s called Amps. Lightning has a lot of it, over 100k amps.

A Static shock – it’s maybe 10k volts, but the amps are millionths of an Amp.
A lightning bolt – can have ½ billion volts and ¼ billion Amps.
FYI: Less than 1 amp can stop your heart.

This is the exact same for a downed Power line, an incredible amount of power racing across the ground to neutralize. If you get close, a differential of power between your feet. Stay away! Or hop away.

 

[Mr. October]

People tend to be way too casual about lightning. It is not something to be messes with. I had the unfortunate experience to see someone get hit by lightning many years ago in North Wildwood, NJ. Dude was standing at a bust stop. We were in the car passing by and there was a violent t-storm. There was literally a blinding flash where you could see nothing but white and then the guy was laying on the ground . . . . smoking! He didn't make it.

A few years ago now at a registered trapshoot, there was an afternoon thunderstorm rolling in. I moved from station 5 to 1 and, in doing so, looked west and watched a bolt of lightning streak to the ground. I walked off the line. The scorer told me if i didn't continue he'd mark the rest of my targets "lost". Fine with me. I'd rather be alive. The rest of the squad quit then too.

 

[mntnguide]

Well said. Hard to explain Step Touch potential to someone with no electrical knowledge, I think you outlined it pretty well there

 

[pods8 (Rugged Stitching)]

Was talking with another parent at a sports event and the guys that got hit by lighting in CO came up. He said he doesn't mess with lighting, he was on a golf course in the front range where the hole they were on the green was the highpoint in the area when a storm came in. They walked off the course and warned the group behind them not to go up there, who scoffed at them about it. That group subsequently got hit by lightening and the ambulances were headed to the green while the other was loading up in the parking lot.

 

[AM_Hunter]

Would this mean you are theoretically safe from from a non direct lighting strike if you are in a hammock? Or would the electricity go up the tree and through the hammock/you to the other tree and back down?

 

[mntnguide]

Would this mean you are theoretically safe from from a non direct lighting strike if you are in a hammock? Or would the electricity go up the tree and through the hammock/you to the other tree and back down?

theoretically yes, you being suspended in air would insulate you from being a path to ground...but if the path went from 1 tree, through you to the other to ground, you can still be in danger, because the trees are a path to ground no matter what, and you being between them, doesnt stop the electricity from going through you. . When i used to hang off helicopters on working on high voltage powerlines, I have held 230K volts in my hands, right in front of my face doing barehand work, the reason that works, there is zero path to ground with the helicopter suspended in the air. Think of the term, Bird on a Wire. You always see tons of birds on powerlines etc, but if a bird stretches its wings out and touches the pole, or another phase, they are smoked.

Also I should mention, if you havent seen the damage a bolt of lightning does when it actually hits a tree directly...Its massive. Like an explosion. So, you are far from safe if you are unlucky in that aspect

 

[hunthikecamp]

add this to the list of things i never thought I'd learn from Rokslide. Really well explained, thanks!

 

[RockAndSage]

You guys taking the time to explain the science behind all this - it's appreciated, thank you. It helps making better-informed decisions, beyond "lightning bad, don't hold metal, go inside."

 

[North of 60]

i believe it as i've been too close a couple of times in my life...one on a CO mountain pass.

It is fascinating to see what lightning will do to a 120+ foot majestic red oak tree. It will explode cracks out of the tree as it goes to ground.

 

[RockAndSage]

It will explode

Massive electricity + moisture + solid container = steam bomb?

 

[North of 60]

The electricians can better answer...my guess is the massive energy spike just causes it

 

[North of 60]

going to ground

 

[Beendare]

One more reason not to wear that Copper Fit knee brace or the HECS clothing- grin

 

[Smokey Bear]

A few weeks after my wife and I purchased our house we had a big thunderstorm roll in. I was outside watching and my wife was trying to sleep. She works graveyard shift. We have eight old growth firs on our property. I saw that it woke her up. She was unplugging tv’s and computer. She came outside to me in her robe. We were standing under the awning of the shop just watching. Then BOOM! Lightning hits the tree in the middle of the lawn, then arcs to another tree, then another in the neighbors yard. I stood there like Chris Farley in Tommy Boy “that was awesome”. But my wife not so much, she had tears running down her face. Scared the shit out her. The tree had been topped eighty years earlier and in the crotch of the tree it caught fire, about eighty feet up. Thankfully the rain doused it out. We lost a microwave, but the neighbors lost two tv’s a computer and a couple other things. Witnessing it within a hundred feet was amazing, but I don’t need to again.

 

[journeyman713]

i believe it as i've been too close a couple of times in my life...one on a CO mountain pass.

It is fascinating to see what lightning will do to a 120+ foot majestic red oak tree. It will explode cracks out of the tree as it goes to ground.

The reason is steam, Hyper-steam.
A water droplet expands to 10,000 times its size, when turned to steam.
When its done in a nanosecond, its a lot like the way dynamite does its thing.

 

[RockAndSage]

A bolt of lightning coming to the ground, isn’t much unlike the static shock you get after shuffling your feet on the carpet then touch something grounded. An imbalance of electrical potential just trying to find the easiest path to neutralize.

In summary,
When a lightning bolt hits the ground, there is so much power to dissipate, it can take a large area to absorb it. Let’s say a 50 feet diameter, before the ¼ billion Volts goes into the ground. So, if you are 30 feet away from impact, you might have one foot in 10 million Volts, and the other foot in 9 million Volts. A million-volt differential between your feet, it will pass through your body in an instant. Theoretically, you’d have a much better chance, if you were standing on one foot. So think small, cover less space, don't lie down.

There’s more than just Volts that defines the potential of power, it’s called Amps. Lightning has a lot of it, over 100k amps.

A Static shock – it’s maybe 10k volts, but the amps are millionths of an Amp.
A lightning bolt – can have ½ billion volts and ¼ billion Amps.
FYI: Less than 1 amp can stop your heart.

This is the exact same for a downed Power line, an incredible amount of power racing across the ground to neutralize. If you get close, a differential of power between your feet. Stay away! Or hop away.

Correct me if I'm wrong here, but it seems everything comes down to minimizing the possibility of your body serving as a kind of bridge between lightning and the ground. Getting topographically low, avoiding trees, not being in the mouth of a cave...

If you got caught out in the open, I'm curious if it would be possible to set up some sort of insulation layer with stuff a guy might have on a hunt.

Would sitting on a folded sleeping bag be enough? What about if it was on top of a foam sleeping pad?

How much would rain or accumulated rainwater play in this scenario?

Also - if you were down in a bowl of some kind, I imagine it would be better to be on loose soil/sand, rather than on a rock, yeah?

 

[BLJ]

Never heard of Step Potential until today.
Is it assumed to go from leg to leg? But still hits the heart?

 

[journeyman713]

Never heard of Step Potential until today.
Is it assumed to go from leg to leg? But still hits the heart?

Yes, the differential of power potential between your feet.
To minimize this, you might keep your feet together, or stand on one foot.

 

[journeyman713]

Correct me if I'm wrong here, but it seems everything comes down to minimizing the possibility of your body serving as a kind of bridge between lightning and the ground. Getting topographically low, avoiding trees, not being in the mouth of a cave...

If you got caught out in the open, I'm curious if it would be possible to set up some sort of insulation layer with stuff a guy might have on a hunt.

Would sitting on a folded sleeping bag be enough? What about if it was on top of a foam sleeping pad?

How much would rain or accumulated rainwater play in this scenario?

Also - if you were down in a bowl of some kind, I imagine it would be better to be on loose soil/sand, rather than on a rock, yeah?

The misconception is - Not being between the lightning bolt and the ground.
The reality is - Power dissipating across the easiest path, after it hits the ground, which stretches well beyond where the lightning hit.

If you were lucky enough to have an insulating rubber blanket to stand on, it would probably be wet from the storm, reducing its effectiveness. Never stand in a puddle near electricity.

 

[Silver Wings]

Probably a dumb question, but why do our leather boots with rubber soles not protect us if we are standing and not struck directly?
Interesting thread