Super thunder shatters windows in Philly

I remember in the military in Augusta, Georgia back in '87.

I was a scorcher that day, 100+.

Front comes through and the temperature must have dropped almost 40 degrees in a minute or so.... watching the front roll in was pretty cool, you could tell that was a mean system coming through.

I was outside at the time watching the storm, and lightning hit a little ways off, but when the thunder hit...about 30 car windshields all shattered at the same time.... it was pretty awesome to see.

I always assumed that it was because of the rapid temperature drop and the insides of the cars being so hot (ones that didn't have their windows cracked)

I always knew that thunder was the most invisible, but loud killer. I wonder if those lightning strikes are strong enough to cause heart failure like a punch to the sternum.

And I am talking about proximity to where the lightning hits... not striking an individual directly. (Splash damage...)

There's still a chance it was a good sized meteor. Those have had a history of blowing out windows from a sonic boom. Problem is, how do you know if a meteor is what causes that bright flash and boom in the middle of a thunderstorm? Unless you were looking right at it (and lucky enough to not have the clouds obscure it), you probably wouldn't be any wiser while presuming it's just another lightning strike. And there's nothing that says a meteor can't fall right through a thunderstorm and cause damage.

Wow...Been in a house that was struck by lightning. I thought my time was up. what a Boom, but the windows never came in.
must have been a cracker.

magicrat
Wow. That is crazy. Do you all have a name for it yet? In the last few years in Chicago we've added ThunderSnow and Polar Vortex to our regular vocabulary. Maybe Sonic Thunder? ThunderBoom?

Has this happened before there or in other places? I started looking a bit and didn't see any other examples of windows actually being blown out by thunder.

Maybe thunderclap

thunder breaking windows...
I have never heard of that in my 44 years , doesn't mean it can't happen.
However , all this weather on steroids is a bit puzzling for me , I remember when a 'microburst" was the weirdest phenomena out there!
Just like meteor sightings , is it more activity or is it more social media and several avenues to convey experiences?

I've experienced lightning hitting things in close proximity , or directly into the ground near my home , heard tales from friends and family too but this one is different ,it feels like things are changing and fast.

i suppose this is the new norm?

Is the atmosphere changing ? Solar weather interfering to change the dynamics of things? I haven't a clue nor the knowledge to even begin to understand but things APPEAR to be amping up , we'll just have to wait and see what the future holds.



People are waiting for Winter to end , i'm a bit nervous to see what Spring and Summer hold !

To the folks who think this was a transformer blowing .... no.
I've heard transformers blow. I've been near them when they have.
What I heard was no transformer blowing.
I'm not anywhere near the epi-center of this, and yet I saw the flash and heard the unending rumble.
It went on and on and on ... and it was loud and vibrating.
It was more like an earthquake than anything else ... an earthquake with a big flash first.

Anyways, that's what it was like for me here ...

What happened was Positive lightning:

Positive lightning is a rare form of lightning that carries a positive charge to the ground, rather than the negative charge that is typically associated with lightning. This type of lightning can strike across very long distances, and with formidable power, making it extremely dangerous.

Awareness of positive lightning’s significance has gradually increased in recent decades, and it is now believed to comprise up to 5% of all lightning strikes. The negative charge at a storm cell’s base is balanced by a strong positive charge at the cloud’s anvil-shaped top, up to 60,000 feet above the ground. While there is also a positive charge on the ground immediately underneath the storm cell, significant charge differentials can develop between cloud tops and negatively-charged land surfaces much further away. Occasionally these differentials are sufficient to spark a positively charged lightning strike— a huge high-energy arc capable of hitting the ground more than ten miles from the storm itself, often under clear skies and bright sunshine.

Vast energies are required to deliver these bolts from the blue. Research suggests that positive lightning can generate currents and potentials ten times greater than negative strikes: up to 300,000 amps and 1 billion volts, or approximately 300,000.21 gigawatts of power in a single discharge.

I have been scared by one that struck in my neighborhood, 4 blocks away, like a bomb going off at 4 in the morning. The damage was to a 30 Ft tall pine tree that was completely destroyed to it's base. The houses next to the tree had all their windows blown out and they were newer homes.

I knew it was lightning since I was awake listening to it come towards my house. There were flashes then a single boom. I would count the seconds between to tell the distance. It just kept getting closer and closer until it hit the tree, which scared the %!t out of me, then it hit somewhere in the further distance and slowly moved away. The eerie part was how loud the Booms were and how long it kept rolling along afterwards. Never heard it before or since. News did report it as positive lightning...

Sirric

I think this a very good example of just how much we DON'T know,lol.

reply to post by Mundanemundy

I like. Simple and clever. Also made me think Thunder Crack, which appeals to me and seems to describe it nicely.

reply to post by sirric


That certainly describes the most intense thunder and lightning I have experienced.

It was a clear sky night too and literally seconds between the thunder and lightning until they were happening simultaneously, and it went on for about an hour, sometimes there would be 4 or 5 lightning bolts visible in the same window frame. That was some night, or early morning.

reply to post by Soloprotocol



When I was a teenager, my mom convinced me to go out in her back yard to save her goose from the storm. ( I know, Goose, lol..it was their pet...that crazy thing used to sit on my dad's lap like a cat...excellent watch dog too...honk at anybody he didn't recognize) I was about halfway back to the house when lightning hit a pole about 30 yards away......all I remember is everything went white.... the goose went one way and I went another.....I made it back to the house and had the overwhelming urge to go to the bathroom..... it literally scared the crap out of me! LOL

] RickinVa
reply to post by Soloprotocol

 

When I was a teenager, my mom convinced me to go out in her back yard to save her goose from the storm. ( I know, Goose, lol..it was their pet...that crazy thing used to sit on my dad's lap like a cat...excellent watch dog too...honk at anybody he didn't recognize) I was about halfway back to the house when lightning hit a pole about 30 yards away......all I remember is everything went white.... the goose went one way and I went another.....I made it back to the house and had the overwhelming urge to go to the bathroom..... it literally scared the crap out of me! LOL

LMAO! That my friend is a wonderful story.

reply to post by FortAnthem


There are lot's of strange things happening in our atmosphere...

FortAnthem
reply to post by magicrat

 

As far as I know, this is the only report I've ever heard of this happening. They say its because of the freaky weather we've been having trapping the cold air near the surface during the thunder storm made the thunder extra powerful.

I didn't hear any of it where I live but, I've been hearing people talk about it all day. They say it was truly terrifying. It must've sounded like the area was being bombed. A regular thunderstorm can be scary enough, I can only imagine!

weird..

I just posted a thread this week about huge 3 big booms before the power went out near my area...this has been going on now for ...a week now ?

ujustneverknow
thunder breaking windows...
I have never heard of that in my 44 years , doesn't mean it can't happen.
However , all this weather on steroids is a bit puzzling for me , I remember when a 'microburst" was the weirdest phenomena out there!
Just like meteor sightings , is it more activity or is it more social media and several avenues to convey experiences?

I've experienced lightning hitting things in close proximity , or directly into the ground near my home , heard tales from friends and family too but this one is different ,it feels like things are changing and fast.

i suppose this is the new norm?

Is the atmosphere changing ? Solar weather interfering to change the dynamics of things? I haven't a clue nor the knowledge to even begin to understand but things APPEAR to be amping up , we'll just have to wait and see what the future holds.



People are waiting for Winter to end , i'm a bit nervous to see what Spring and Summer hold !

well..

I personally experienced a lighting bolt hit the ground 50ft from my front window of my living room and it did NOT shatter the w.i.n.d.o.w... but OMG.. I hit the floor quick and thought a bomb went off .. !!!!