I was very nearly struck by lightning today! :)

reply to post by Soapusmaximus


Apologies young man, no one else will understand, but I suspect you have heard about my near miss too many times already over dinner! I am a dope

Glad to hear you are okay

Believe it or not I HAVE been struck by lightening about 11 years ago. and since I've nearly been struck 3 other times (within 5 feet). When I was stuck I was standing at the edge of the entrance to my garage talking to a neighbor across the street. Then all of a sudden I saw a small flash out of the corner of my left eye that was immediately accompanied by the crash of thunder.
It knocked me out for a few seconds. When I came to I was on the ground and my neighbor was rushing across the street to me. I got up and his jaw was dropped. I said, " Damn.... where did that hit?" and with jaw still gapeing he said, " Dude!!!!! It hit YOU!!!!!" "It hit the gutter you were standing under and branched off to YOU" I looked at him in disbelief until I looked down at my shoulder and saw a giant burnt spot on my shirt. My neighbor kept patting me down making sure I was okay. I reassured him that I was fine. I didn't go to the hospital or anything. Later that night when I took my shoes and socks off I saw that all my toe nails were black. (warning: the next part is a little gross) Over the next few weeks and months all my toenails eventually fell off. They have all grown back since and I had no adverse effects to being stuck. And I don't have any of the crazy vein marks like others have had. But I was definitely stuck.

reply to post by Talltexxxan


Wow,you were lucky thats all the effects you suffered-many people get brain damage and have trouble moving and/or concentrating after direct hit.

I used to bicycle a lot and one of my favorites was an abandoned rail line that was paved over. some of it goes through areas where there are no houses or whatever. This one section for about a mile has these metal towers that are ancient, with rivets and fading silver paint. It was raining and I was coming back , I experienced the same as you except the lightning was hitting the transmission towers and the times it hit was just as I passed a tower. I was scared that if I stopped it would hit me. well I made it back ok.soaked.

almost not considered www.youtube.com...

reply to post by Soapusmaximus


The static spark that you felt was via induced electrical charges in the metal of your bike as the lightning bolt struck nearby, if you took a direct hit it would be a different story, same happens to the guy in this vid

Soapusmaximus I'm glad to hear you were all right and unharmed after such an incident. TallTexan that is one heck of a lightening strike story. Kind of made me chuckle when you described your neighbors reaction to your reaction lol.


I have a personal lightening story to share as well. I will never forget the size and immense power of a lightening bolt that strikes the Earths surface. It silences anyone with awe and shock ....no pun intended.

When I was younger many years ago I was on a vacation visiting my family, I spent one day visiting a good friend of the family his name was Richard and he was a pretty cool guy. He was a close friend of my grandparents. On that particular day Richard was teaching me the basics about driving a manual transmission pickup truck. I was at the wheel, navigating to a huge gravel pit that most locals traveled to when target shooting rifles or pistols. We arrived and shot our guns for a couple hours. (I had fun plinking with an old Savage 22. Rifle).

As the hours passed the bright sunshine had become screened away from thick heavy clouds moving overhead with strong winds. This was our sign to head back home for the day. I again was behind the wheel being directed from Richard with proper clutch and brake controls.

A half an hour later we approached the small town my family lives in, I rounded the corner of the block my grandmother lived on and a white bolt of lightning struck the ground only 20-30ft in front of the pickup truck. It was so immense and powerful it buckled the engine of the truck and nearly made it stall out.


I was safe inside the vehicle but the experience was very startling. The stories i have read in the beginning of this thread must have really been scary.

reply to post by Soapusmaximus


Lightning can jump quite a ways. Had a friend who lost 8 horses standing next to a really small tree. They think it hit the tree first and bounced.

One day, 20 years ago, I was sitting on my back porch in Alabama watching a storm come in. It was getting close so I got up to go inside. I put my hand on the screen door when a bolt hit the field I was watching. It wasn't a direct hit on me, but the electricity was so close that it ran up the screen door and into my left arm. No burns .. but SERIOUS pain all the way to my elbow and my arm was frozen for a hour or so. It wouldn't change position. Lightening hurts.

reply to post by Soapusmaximus


I will relate these incidents to you to convey to you just HOW lucky you were.

I used to live on the west coast of Florida, in the Tampa bay area. Which is known as the "lightning capital of the US". I remember 3 incidents that happened that always has me running for shelter when it starts to boom outside.

1. Two men were getting their Hobie cat out of the water at a park near Tampa. Lightning hit the mast, went through one of the men, and cooked his leg like a steak. I don't believe he lived.

2. some fishermen were fishing right at the onset of a storm in a John boat. As one man stood to cast the line, he was hit, the energy of the lightning was so violent that it blew the bones inside his ears out through his eardrum. Again I don't believe this guy survived, probably fortunately for him.

3. I had a friend whose husband worked for the school board. He was putting paint cans in a van during a storm and was hit. Although he survived, he has double vision, severe memory and cognitive problems, and can barely function.

If you hear thunder, you NEED to get inside. If you are in range of the thunder, you are in range of the lightning. It can travel 20 miles in a millisecond.

And last my personal experience. I was once driving in a wooded area and saw a beautiful thunderhead, probably about 15 miles away. Suddenly there was a brilliant flash to my right and a HUGE bolt struck in the woods, about half a mile away from me. even though my window was partially up, my ears rang for around an hour afterwords, and my ear actually had a burning sensation, like from a sun burn (UV from the bolt?)
I have a huge respect for lightning, and believe me you should as well.