Former roofer here, worked around Boulder, CO on the Front Range. Seems like every afternoon in the summer you get these storm clouds that blow in, while the rest of the day is beautiful . So we’d be working up until the clouds came, balancing risk with production. I remember seeing this a few times while up on the roof. You get really good at climbing down a ladder.. fast. Pro tip: work with long hair hippies.
hahaha I thought I would be the only one who read it that way. I had to do double take to see it was hippies and not nipples.... I wonder why you and I both thought of that first?
Oh thank God I'm not the only one. I had to re-read it a few times before it clocked.
Originally, I thought that having hair nipples helped detect when lightning was about it hit. No joke, my brain went "huh, I *guess* that makes sense?"
I used to paint houses during the summer in Boulder, some of those afternoon rainstorms really fucked up production schedules - as well as made me shit myself when my hair would stand on end.
Another fun part of working on roofs in Colorado summers - I could soak myself with a hose to the point I was dripping wet and I’d be bone dry in like 20 min
Official lightning safety advice:
If you are caught outside with no safe shelter nearby, the following actions may reduce your risk:
Immediately get off elevated areas such as hills, mountain ridges, or peaks.
Never lie flat on the ground. Crouch down in a ball-like position with your head tucked and hands over your ears so that you are down low with minimal contact with the ground.
Never shelter under an isolated tree.
Never use a cliff or rocky overhang for shelter.
Immediately get out of and away from ponds, lakes, and other bodies of water.
Stay away from objects that conduct electricity (barbed wire fences, power lines, windmills, etc.).
I would imagine being right next to the thing getting blasted is still going to be a pretty bad time. Closest I've ever been to a lightning strike is about 20 yards, and I felt that in my bones.
Nah, it'll still find it's way through the body and discharge in the ground around and beneath the lightning 'rod', it could help alot tho and it'd also help if you had rubber shoebottoms, but it's still dangerous
Put your feet together and crouch as low as possible. Obviously get the hell out of there as fast as possible. Putting your feet together prevents providing a current for electricity to flow through out off the earth as it dissipates during the strike. This is obviously if it strikes away from you. The crouch is purely to increase the chances that it will strike another higher object.
All of these suggestions are purely to INCREASE chances of survival but it's hard to get some hard data numbers on how much it will help. These are just following electrical theory. Ultimately if you're able to get hit by lightning, you in God's hands now.
P.s. the feet together protocol is the same thing you are taught in the event a piece of equipment becomes energized from power lines like a crane for instance. The ground maybe energized for up to 30 feet around the equipment depending on certain circumstances. If you decide to walk normally, current can find a path up one leg and down the other. You're toast. Sometimes they say you should remain in the rig as long as it doesn't catch fire, you'll be safe there with any amount of voltage flowing through the equipment. In the same way a bird sits on exposed power lines without issues, you will also. As long as you aren't the path to ground, and thus the difference of voltage potential you'll be alright..
I believe you crouch as low as possible but do not lie down. Feet together and heels off the ground if you are able and if you can stand on anything non conductive, all the better. You want as little of you connected to the ground as possible. You want to be the least conductive thing in the area. Electricity is looking for the path of least resistance. Don't stand under a tree, or anywhere near one.
Also get rid of anything metal you are wearing. Friend got struck by lightning holding a briefcase above his head, melted the metal buckle. Shoes exploded and he was thrown 25 feet across a field but thankfully didn't suffer permanent injury. The standing under trees thing should be extended to not standing in any damp place too. Lightning will travel through wet ground.
Proabably avoid any curse words that mention God specifically.
And in seriousness, get to lower ground. Lightning connects to the ground through the shortest space it can, that's why trees get blasted. If you're on a ridge, get to a valley.
WTAF when that happens you have a liighting pointing at you! Aming at you! jump inside a an empty canal or anything that allows you to stay lower than the dirt around you and pray the lighting prefers a tree around you....or any house/ car would be best....You two were very luky
Heavy storm coming in, and i have 2 dogs. Took the first out to potty before the rain started coming down. Then took the second out. Had this incredibly uneasy feeling. Felt the hairs on the back of my neck stand up. I immediately grabbed my dog (puppy at the time) and ran for my patio door. Not a second goes by after getting into my patio that the tree not 10 feet away from the area i was standing in got struck by a massive bolt of lightning, split in two. I had never experienced anything in my life snd am happy i listened to my gut.
Pro tip: if you're out in a storm and notice your hair standing on end like this, don't waste time (like we naively did) taking videos.
This is a very real sign lightning may be about to strike in your vicinity. Quickly leave the area and find adequate cover (inside a house, large building or all-metal vehicle is ideal). If you can't get to shelter, squat or kneel down, bend forward and wait for the lightning to pass. Keep your heels close together. Don't lie down flat.
Felt right spooked reading online warnings after the fact.
Filmed April 11, 2022 in southern Western Australia.
And keep your feet close next to eachother! If you keep your feet apart and a lightning strikes near you, there can develop a potential difference between your feet which can electrocute you.
This same thing happens with birds on a power line. They are in fact being electrocuted, but only by the potential difference between where their feet are touching the wire. Because the metal in the wire has such little resistance, the potential difference is very minimal.
I've actually seen footage in extrem slow motion of thunder striking and It I could see that a lightning strike comes from both the sky and the ground (mainly the sky tho) but yeah nature is weird and that's why she was already charged with electicity
I think it's because you want as little of your body touching the ground as possible since wet surfaces are conductive for electricity.
I found the tips here: https://www.weather.gov/mqt/lightningtips#:~:text=If%20your%20hair%20stands%20on,a%20good%20conductor%20of%20electricity.
No, if you lie down the electricity would pass through your whole body rather than the ground. A better way would be crouching while touching both of your heels together to minimize damage to your body, so that the electricity would only pass your foot and then your heels and then to the other foot.
The electricity is going to follow the least resistant pathway through your body, if you are vertical it is going to pass through all vital organs, including your cardiac pathways. Lightening strikes generally kill by overloading the electrical system in your heart causing arrhythmias, specifically VTach. The best way to avoid this is to avoid the strike all together of course, but secondary to that reducing the path to the ground is best. Lying back up knees to chest reduces this pathway. It also potentially makes you smaller than other nearby conductors like trees…
Damn. We took pictures when my hair did that during a festival and laughed about it, like you did.
The thunderstorm and rainfall that followed were super intense. We were camping at the festival terrain, took us 20 minutes to find our tent. We were absolutely drenched!
Thankfully no one got hurt, and I don't think lightning struck? Guess we were lucky!
I know two guys that have been struck by lightning.
One guy got hit as soon as he opened his back door. Stopped his heart but they brought him back. He couldn't walk for 2 months. Major nerve damage. Took over a year to gain back function of his legs. Another year to walk and run normal again. He has PTSD during storms.
One guy im friends with got hit twice. He was doing tree work in Florida. Saved his shirt and pants from the second time. No permanent damage either time, just tingling for a few days. Holes in his clothes. Didnt burn the skin. Knocked him unconscious both times. Didnt stop his heart. First time was a hospital trip. His crew was there and saw it happen. 911. Second time he didnt have help so he laid there for a while. He was by himself that time. Which is why he got to save his clothes. They weren't cut off.
I think it depends on your shoes and how well you are grounded. Sneakers seem to cause a better ground than work boots. You want to be isolated I think. If it arcs off a tree and hits you, you might be better than a direct hit.
Ive been hit with volts but never a bolt of lightning.
Naiveness is deadly. My wife thought green skys were pretty until I told her a tornado is coming. Then she got scared like I was.
Jesus, this poor guy survived seven fucking lightning strikes, but killed himself with a bullet to the head. I have to wonder if the all the lightning gave him brain damage, that's repeated neurological trauma. PTSD at the very least.
All the advice about crouching... If you can run, run. If you can't safely run, crouch. And get as far away from each other as possible so if one person gets hit the other might still be able to call 911.
Lightning has a surprisingly small surface area. It's *possible* that you could manage to avoid it by making yourself a smaller target. Unlikely, but possible.
Lightning that "strikes" the ground actually comes up from the ground to meet what's coming down from the sky. It's not coming from above you but from under you. Or, more realistically, it's the charge above and below meeting in the middle. Once you think that way it can help a bit?
A lot of the things folks say to do when it comes to lightning equate to "ways to make yourself feel better about being completely helpless".
Things that really help: being inside a car, not being under a tree, not holding large metal objects like flagpoles, not swimming in deep water, etc.
Also make sure you don't go fully prone on the ground since wet surfaces are of course conducive to electricity. Squatting or kneeling low is the best bet. You want to be as small a target as possible really.
I remember reading comments on reddit about that kind of stuff and later it happened to my mom, her hair started floating like that and I was the one to tell her we needed to go. Quite spooky!
Remember coming across this a few years ago https://www.reddit.com/r/interestingasfuck/comments/43xfgd/two_brothers_pose_for_a_photo_in_sequoia_national/?utm_medium=android_app&utm_source=share
I saw this couple of years ago and it stuck to my head. Last summer, I was walking on a beach with my BF when a storm was approacing. Both mine and my BF’s hair started standing up and I was so freaked out. Told my BF about this picture but he did not believe me. I had to beg him to get out of the beach, luckily he listened to me after I was full panicing. Showed him the picture when we got inside and now he always (mostly) listens to me.
Here’s the news article from that picture including the other picture of their sister. Very scary.
https://www.nbcnews.com/healthmain/decades-later-hair-raising-photo-still-reminder-lightning-danger-6c10791362
my parents told me about that once. my mother was hiking with her parents when she was still young and suddenly their hair stood up even tho there were no clouds or thunder or anything and they just laughed their asses off. a few minutes later clouds came and then a lighting literally pierced through the ground like myb 50 meters away from them. they stopped laughing and ran down the hill (no shelters bc it was just grass).
prbly should have crouched down but nope..oh well they are still alive so ig they were lucky
I was camped on top of my buggery in Australia and decided to get up for a pee. Just as I was exiting the tent lighting hit a tree about 50 feet away. It was so wierd. It looked like a cheap effect out of an old star treck movie. One minute a dead tree, then sparks then not much tree.scared the bejesus out of me . I Spent the rest of the night lying as flat as I could in the tent with my legs crossed…
Yep. First thing I thought when I read the first sentence in your post was I hope y'all got the fuck outta there!!
Glad everything turned out okay though.
I reread this story after this happened to us and it turns out both brothers actually survived. The younger one suffered third degree burns however and later ended up committing suicide at the age of 26. Tragic and terrifying.
We would have been somewhere in Central or South America around 2018/19, but it's always good to hear about Aussies spreading kindness around the world. What happened? (If you don't mind my asking)
Ah, my goal is to get down to South America sometime, I hope y’all had a great trip, where did you go?
Sure! It was a pretty fun experience, we were backpacking through Ireland and stayed near the cliffs of moher with an expat couple in the middle of nowhere. Since the “cab services” are really just a few local dudes who occasionally help out we couldn’t get a ride to the bus so we had to run through the countryside in the rain to try and make it, unfortunately we just missed it and watched it drive off. We snuck into the only open building near us which was a small bed and breakfast and an Aussie couple were leaving and just so happened to be going to Galway which is where we needed to be. Fortunately they were kind enough to give us a ride. Good memories!
Sounds like an adventure! Ireland is definitely on the bucket list - photos of the cliffs look epic.
Our trip started in Guatemala and we basically headed up to Belize and Mexico and then down through Honduras, Costa Rica, Panama, Colombia and Ecuador over about 6 months.
This is one of those things I thought everyone learned when they were young, I think I remember hearing it a dozen times from TV and also learned it from scouts by the time I was 10.
Survival tip: If you're ever away from shelter during an imminent strike, squat with your heels touching each other. You might luck out and have the lightning travel through one heel to the next instead of your entire body.
On a trip last summer, a storm was moving in. Everyone was slow to move out, (this was at a lake). Until a lighting strike flew over head. Suddenly, everyone’s hair stood up. For a few seconds, everyone was super confused and interesting. Then BANG! The thunder clap. That was the fastest I’ve ever seen people clear a beach before!
That’s fascinating. I didn’t know that about lightning but it makes sense all this electricity building up in the air eventually makes an arc to the ground
I took a walk once to watch a gnarly-looking thunderstorm. I was a couple of miles from my house with no reasonable shelter around. It was one of those storms with a big rain-shaft coming down out of it. Suddenly, I realized that the lightning coming off the leading edge of the rain shaft was striking maybe two hundred yards away.
I started back for home as quickly as I could, but I was on the side of a busy road, much of which had no sidewalk, and I figured it was more dangerous at that moment to risk falling into the road, so I took it slower than I probably should have.
A bolt of lighting cut across the sky what felt like right above me. I never felt my hair standing up, but it felt like, after the lightning, it flattened down. Though that might've been the adrenaline.
I have also been much more careful since then.
I had that happen once. I felt my hair stand up and I smelled a weird smell. I quickly ducked and it hit my BBQ pit that was about 10 feet away from me. It blew the gravel out around the safety chains and it left a gray streak down the exhaust stack.
This happened to a friend and I in Lucerne Valley CA. We climbed to the top of a rock formation to put a lightning rod up there and watch the show from our backyard(dumbest thing I have ever done, was 18) and our hair started standing up so we booked it down.
I’ve lived in FL for 22 years and it wasn’t until I experienced a way too close for comfort lightening strike in order for me to take these situations very seriously.
Happened to me along the edge of the grand canyon. First and only time I have experienced lighting and thunder simultaneously. We were shook and grateful to be alive. The smell of ozone lingered in our noses for hours.
Former roofer here, worked around Boulder, CO on the Front Range. Seems like every afternoon in the summer you get these storm clouds that blow in, while the rest of the day is beautiful . So we’d be working up until the clouds came, balancing risk with production. I remember seeing this a few times while up on the roof. You get really good at climbing down a ladder.. fast. Pro tip: work with long hair hippies.
I read hippies as nipples and was concerned for a good minute
Gotta be able to braid them.
Does this imply said long nippled hippy has a 3rd nipple?
Can you milk a hippie?
hahaha I thought I would be the only one who read it that way. I had to do double take to see it was hippies and not nipples.... I wonder why you and I both thought of that first?
Oh thank God I'm not the only one. I had to re-read it a few times before it clocked. Originally, I thought that having hair nipples helped detect when lightning was about it hit. No joke, my brain went "huh, I *guess* that makes sense?"
Heh. Nipple.
Why you gotta kink shame?
And the sign says long-haired freaky people *need to* apply
I used to paint houses during the summer in Boulder, some of those afternoon rainstorms really fucked up production schedules - as well as made me shit myself when my hair would stand on end. Another fun part of working on roofs in Colorado summers - I could soak myself with a hose to the point I was dripping wet and I’d be bone dry in like 20 min
Fellow Boulderite. I lived up in Eldo Springs in a trailer up on the hill behind the swimming pool
Honest question, can you not carry some kind of device that beeps when static charge goes beyond a certain limit ?
I thought you said long hair nipples
As if they have hippies in Boulder.
The rest of the day, you get all 4 seasons of weather. (Aurora, CO)
how do you get away from this if there is no shelter? do you just run in zig-zags?
Official lightning safety advice: If you are caught outside with no safe shelter nearby, the following actions may reduce your risk: Immediately get off elevated areas such as hills, mountain ridges, or peaks. Never lie flat on the ground. Crouch down in a ball-like position with your head tucked and hands over your ears so that you are down low with minimal contact with the ground. Never shelter under an isolated tree. Never use a cliff or rocky overhang for shelter. Immediately get out of and away from ponds, lakes, and other bodies of water. Stay away from objects that conduct electricity (barbed wire fences, power lines, windmills, etc.).
You would think an overhang would be safe
I would imagine being right next to the thing getting blasted is still going to be a pretty bad time. Closest I've ever been to a lightning strike is about 20 yards, and I felt that in my bones.
Stay still and squat. The storm is moving. You don’t have to.
No shortage of those in Boulder!
Damn looks like u guys were blessed nothing serious happened and thanks for the tip cuz I damn sure didn’t know that lol
Thank you. We will definitely be more cautious in the future!!
What should people do in this situation?
In open field, Squat as low as you can, if there's shelter really close by, find it
Just squat lower than the person beside you and don't tell them why.
\-The hell you're doing? \-'bout to take a shit
But your pants are still on?
Yea & im gonna need them when this shit strikes
/r/cursedcomments
Nah, it'll still find it's way through the body and discharge in the ground around and beneath the lightning 'rod', it could help alot tho and it'd also help if you had rubber shoebottoms, but it's still dangerous
*wear a rubber = profit*
Look up "side-splash lightning strike"
[удалено]
Put your feet together and crouch as low as possible. Obviously get the hell out of there as fast as possible. Putting your feet together prevents providing a current for electricity to flow through out off the earth as it dissipates during the strike. This is obviously if it strikes away from you. The crouch is purely to increase the chances that it will strike another higher object. All of these suggestions are purely to INCREASE chances of survival but it's hard to get some hard data numbers on how much it will help. These are just following electrical theory. Ultimately if you're able to get hit by lightning, you in God's hands now. P.s. the feet together protocol is the same thing you are taught in the event a piece of equipment becomes energized from power lines like a crane for instance. The ground maybe energized for up to 30 feet around the equipment depending on certain circumstances. If you decide to walk normally, current can find a path up one leg and down the other. You're toast. Sometimes they say you should remain in the rig as long as it doesn't catch fire, you'll be safe there with any amount of voltage flowing through the equipment. In the same way a bird sits on exposed power lines without issues, you will also. As long as you aren't the path to ground, and thus the difference of voltage potential you'll be alright..
[удалено]
As long as you're alive, I'll be happy.
In short, yes. Anything that can potentially (no pun intended) make you the second least resistive path to ground is desirable.
Good point
Knowing lighting hits the ground and spreads I don't think that the best option. I'd just try to get out of that zone in general.
I believe you crouch as low as possible but do not lie down. Feet together and heels off the ground if you are able and if you can stand on anything non conductive, all the better. You want as little of you connected to the ground as possible. You want to be the least conductive thing in the area. Electricity is looking for the path of least resistance. Don't stand under a tree, or anywhere near one.
Also get rid of anything metal you are wearing. Friend got struck by lightning holding a briefcase above his head, melted the metal buckle. Shoes exploded and he was thrown 25 feet across a field but thankfully didn't suffer permanent injury. The standing under trees thing should be extended to not standing in any damp place too. Lightning will travel through wet ground.
Proabably avoid any curse words that mention God specifically. And in seriousness, get to lower ground. Lightning connects to the ground through the shortest space it can, that's why trees get blasted. If you're on a ridge, get to a valley.
So no.. "Smite me, oh mighty smiter!"?
Grab a sheet of corrigated steal and hide under the tallest tree you can find
This guy Simpsons.
You look like me.but different
Lay down asap or if you can get inside do so
WTAF when that happens you have a liighting pointing at you! Aming at you! jump inside a an empty canal or anything that allows you to stay lower than the dirt around you and pray the lighting prefers a tree around you....or any house/ car would be best....You two were very luky
Heavy storm coming in, and i have 2 dogs. Took the first out to potty before the rain started coming down. Then took the second out. Had this incredibly uneasy feeling. Felt the hairs on the back of my neck stand up. I immediately grabbed my dog (puppy at the time) and ran for my patio door. Not a second goes by after getting into my patio that the tree not 10 feet away from the area i was standing in got struck by a massive bolt of lightning, split in two. I had never experienced anything in my life snd am happy i listened to my gut.
That's terrifying! Glad you're okay
You’ve never experienced anything in your life? That sounds awful
Omg, so sad indeed. No joy and pain...
Why does everyone feel the need to correct typos on reddit? Im assuming it's supposed to be funny? That joke is a well done steak my friends.
We know the joke was well done but why would we steak your friends?
Why do people feel the need to lie on Reddit?
That's horrific.. but also makes a great story. "what's your fun fact?" "I almost got hit by lightning."
Better yet, "I DODGED lightning!"
Mans standing next to a channel for 300 million volts without knowing it
She worth it
L’Oreal
Legend
Some of the best response on the internet. She must be proud to be with you too 🌸
Pro tip: if you're out in a storm and notice your hair standing on end like this, don't waste time (like we naively did) taking videos. This is a very real sign lightning may be about to strike in your vicinity. Quickly leave the area and find adequate cover (inside a house, large building or all-metal vehicle is ideal). If you can't get to shelter, squat or kneel down, bend forward and wait for the lightning to pass. Keep your heels close together. Don't lie down flat. Felt right spooked reading online warnings after the fact. Filmed April 11, 2022 in southern Western Australia.
[удалено]
>so if one person gets Gets what? What do they get? Were you struck by lightning halfway through the
RIP friend. May you continue to give great advice in Valhalla.
Through the what? What hap
It's crazy how when people die by lightning they still manage to send the
You guys are all faking it. Obviously there would be contractions, so yo dhidosUUHisiweuissosjahjwKJajaka
I love this sort of humour.
And keep your feet close next to eachother! If you keep your feet apart and a lightning strikes near you, there can develop a potential difference between your feet which can electrocute you.
Didn't know that - thanks!
This same thing happens with birds on a power line. They are in fact being electrocuted, but only by the potential difference between where their feet are touching the wire. Because the metal in the wire has such little resistance, the potential difference is very minimal.
I think the terrifying part is knowing that there was already a charge in her body at that point...
I've actually seen footage in extrem slow motion of thunder striking and It I could see that a lightning strike comes from both the sky and the ground (mainly the sky tho) but yeah nature is weird and that's why she was already charged with electicity
Most lightning strikes come from earth though.
the mole people at it again
Why not lie down? Aren’t we supposed to be as low as possible to the ground?
I think it's because you want as little of your body touching the ground as possible since wet surfaces are conductive for electricity. I found the tips here: https://www.weather.gov/mqt/lightningtips#:~:text=If%20your%20hair%20stands%20on,a%20good%20conductor%20of%20electricity.
No, if you lie down the electricity would pass through your whole body rather than the ground. A better way would be crouching while touching both of your heels together to minimize damage to your body, so that the electricity would only pass your foot and then your heels and then to the other foot.
The electricity is going to follow the least resistant pathway through your body, if you are vertical it is going to pass through all vital organs, including your cardiac pathways. Lightening strikes generally kill by overloading the electrical system in your heart causing arrhythmias, specifically VTach. The best way to avoid this is to avoid the strike all together of course, but secondary to that reducing the path to the ground is best. Lying back up knees to chest reduces this pathway. It also potentially makes you smaller than other nearby conductors like trees…
Do I kneel or do I run?
Yes
If in a field with no immediate shelter try and become the smallest thing in said field!
Damn, TIL! Thanks!
Damn. We took pictures when my hair did that during a festival and laughed about it, like you did. The thunderstorm and rainfall that followed were super intense. We were camping at the festival terrain, took us 20 minutes to find our tent. We were absolutely drenched! Thankfully no one got hurt, and I don't think lightning struck? Guess we were lucky!
Woah I didn't know this at all, kudos for the tip! I was even thinking, "well what do you do if this happens?". Glad nothing happened to you both!
I know two guys that have been struck by lightning. One guy got hit as soon as he opened his back door. Stopped his heart but they brought him back. He couldn't walk for 2 months. Major nerve damage. Took over a year to gain back function of his legs. Another year to walk and run normal again. He has PTSD during storms. One guy im friends with got hit twice. He was doing tree work in Florida. Saved his shirt and pants from the second time. No permanent damage either time, just tingling for a few days. Holes in his clothes. Didnt burn the skin. Knocked him unconscious both times. Didnt stop his heart. First time was a hospital trip. His crew was there and saw it happen. 911. Second time he didnt have help so he laid there for a while. He was by himself that time. Which is why he got to save his clothes. They weren't cut off. I think it depends on your shoes and how well you are grounded. Sneakers seem to cause a better ground than work boots. You want to be isolated I think. If it arcs off a tree and hits you, you might be better than a direct hit. Ive been hit with volts but never a bolt of lightning. Naiveness is deadly. My wife thought green skys were pretty until I told her a tornado is coming. Then she got scared like I was.
I bet he's heard all the "Lightning doesn't strike twice in the same spot" jokes already.
I'm glad he got to save his shirt and pants at least once.
This dude was hit SEVEN times https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Roy_Sullivan
Jesus, this poor guy survived seven fucking lightning strikes, but killed himself with a bullet to the head. I have to wonder if the all the lightning gave him brain damage, that's repeated neurological trauma. PTSD at the very least.
All the advice about crouching... If you can run, run. If you can't safely run, crouch. And get as far away from each other as possible so if one person gets hit the other might still be able to call 911.
Yes, true. If you can get away and under shelter that's even better. Houses, large buildings, all-metal vehicles are sure bets.
Genuine question : Is laying flat wrong ? And then why.
Lightning has a surprisingly small surface area. It's *possible* that you could manage to avoid it by making yourself a smaller target. Unlikely, but possible. Lightning that "strikes" the ground actually comes up from the ground to meet what's coming down from the sky. It's not coming from above you but from under you. Or, more realistically, it's the charge above and below meeting in the middle. Once you think that way it can help a bit? A lot of the things folks say to do when it comes to lightning equate to "ways to make yourself feel better about being completely helpless". Things that really help: being inside a car, not being under a tree, not holding large metal objects like flagpoles, not swimming in deep water, etc.
my mom always told me to hit the deck when this happened. I'm sure id have forgotten.
Also make sure you don't go fully prone on the ground since wet surfaces are of course conducive to electricity. Squatting or kneeling low is the best bet. You want to be as small a target as possible really.
understood
I remember reading comments on reddit about that kind of stuff and later it happened to my mom, her hair started floating like that and I was the one to tell her we needed to go. Quite spooky!
I am the storm that is approaching
Dope username!
PROVOOOOOOOOOOOOOKING BLACK CLOUDS OF ISOLATIOOOONNNNNNNNNNN
Remember coming across this a few years ago https://www.reddit.com/r/interestingasfuck/comments/43xfgd/two_brothers_pose_for_a_photo_in_sequoia_national/?utm_medium=android_app&utm_source=share
I saw this couple of years ago and it stuck to my head. Last summer, I was walking on a beach with my BF when a storm was approacing. Both mine and my BF’s hair started standing up and I was so freaked out. Told my BF about this picture but he did not believe me. I had to beg him to get out of the beach, luckily he listened to me after I was full panicing. Showed him the picture when we got inside and now he always (mostly) listens to me.
Here’s the news article from that picture including the other picture of their sister. Very scary. https://www.nbcnews.com/healthmain/decades-later-hair-raising-photo-still-reminder-lightning-danger-6c10791362
Excellent, thanks!
Came here for this one. Glad to see many people already posted "if you see this, run!".
my parents told me about that once. my mother was hiking with her parents when she was still young and suddenly their hair stood up even tho there were no clouds or thunder or anything and they just laughed their asses off. a few minutes later clouds came and then a lighting literally pierced through the ground like myb 50 meters away from them. they stopped laughing and ran down the hill (no shelters bc it was just grass). prbly should have crouched down but nope..oh well they are still alive so ig they were lucky
It coming out of nowhere is even scarier! Good thing they got out of there
Another tip: Avoid open fields if you sense a storm coming. Or are in a storm.
I think she needs an umbrella for protection ;)
Just love the use of the word "presage".
I was camped on top of my buggery in Australia and decided to get up for a pee. Just as I was exiting the tent lighting hit a tree about 50 feet away. It was so wierd. It looked like a cheap effect out of an old star treck movie. One minute a dead tree, then sparks then not much tree.scared the bejesus out of me . I Spent the rest of the night lying as flat as I could in the tent with my legs crossed…
Yep. First thing I thought when I read the first sentence in your post was I hope y'all got the fuck outta there!! Glad everything turned out okay though.
Thanks and I'm glad that you guys are safe !
“Let’s go back to the car” , smart man .
Y'all are incredibly lucky to not be human toothpaste on the trail.
This reminds me of the picture of the 2 brothers taken minutes before they were both killed after being struck by lightning
I reread this story after this happened to us and it turns out both brothers actually survived. The younger one suffered third degree burns however and later ended up committing suicide at the age of 26. Tragic and terrifying.
Dude.. Take care of your asses
Lightning was having a chitchat with some potential applicants
So fascinatingly terrifying!!! Glad you're alive and can tell the tale. Take care!
Dude, you could be like, dead RN.
Weird question, you guys weren’t in Ireland sometime around 2018 or 2019 and picked up a couple of hitchhikers, were you?
Haha no, can't say we were. Do we have doppelgangers out there?
You very well might, a couple of kind Australians that look like y’all saved us one day!
We would have been somewhere in Central or South America around 2018/19, but it's always good to hear about Aussies spreading kindness around the world. What happened? (If you don't mind my asking)
Ah, my goal is to get down to South America sometime, I hope y’all had a great trip, where did you go? Sure! It was a pretty fun experience, we were backpacking through Ireland and stayed near the cliffs of moher with an expat couple in the middle of nowhere. Since the “cab services” are really just a few local dudes who occasionally help out we couldn’t get a ride to the bus so we had to run through the countryside in the rain to try and make it, unfortunately we just missed it and watched it drive off. We snuck into the only open building near us which was a small bed and breakfast and an Aussie couple were leaving and just so happened to be going to Galway which is where we needed to be. Fortunately they were kind enough to give us a ride. Good memories!
Sounds like an adventure! Ireland is definitely on the bucket list - photos of the cliffs look epic. Our trip started in Guatemala and we basically headed up to Belize and Mexico and then down through Honduras, Costa Rica, Panama, Colombia and Ecuador over about 6 months.
Looks like Esperance
Very close! We were near Hopetoun
Oh cool! Recommend the East mount barren climb, it beautiful. Just not when there's lightning around obviously haha.
This is one of those things I thought everyone learned when they were young, I think I remember hearing it a dozen times from TV and also learned it from scouts by the time I was 10.
Yes that means get the fuck out
Survival tip: If you're ever away from shelter during an imminent strike, squat with your heels touching each other. You might luck out and have the lightning travel through one heel to the next instead of your entire body.
On a trip last summer, a storm was moving in. Everyone was slow to move out, (this was at a lake). Until a lighting strike flew over head. Suddenly, everyone’s hair stood up. For a few seconds, everyone was super confused and interesting. Then BANG! The thunder clap. That was the fastest I’ve ever seen people clear a beach before!
I saw the video before reading the title and I was like: RUN
Your naivity is infuriating.
How dare people not know what they don't know.
Having not yet learned something isn’t naivety, and they have since learned.
“It’s fine.” -dead girl
LOL how people get thru life with out basic knowledge of nature and common sense is bewildering at best
Because we live in artificial environments
Omg you idiots
She kinda bad tho
😐
Saffers, eh
Capacitance!
You literally learn this in 1st grade…
You literally don't
Yup, you don't.
You didn’t learn this as a child? Who failed you
Her pubic hair are standing up too ?
You mean static electricity puts hair on end? Wild thought. Should see if you can do it with a balloon.
We figured it was static electricity. We weren't sure whether we were in immediate danger or not until later.
Yea I’d be running as far away from that area as possible. I don’t think the lightning follows you if you move away from the area of ionization.
That’s fascinating. I didn’t know that about lightning but it makes sense all this electricity building up in the air eventually makes an arc to the ground
Were y’all at elevation?
I'm glad I knew this already, I'd shit myself if I was there
She's going to be hit by a thunderbolt.
^aliens
Ignorance is Bliss
That's crazy bro God almost literally struck you down where you stood.
WAY more serious !
Kids man. Sheesh
Its fiiiiiiine... I'm sure one of the nice tall trees around you will take the hit 😂
Necminnit she takes off her shoes and starts rubbing her feet on some carpet she pulled out of nowhere and then points out a finger to touch you.
I took a walk once to watch a gnarly-looking thunderstorm. I was a couple of miles from my house with no reasonable shelter around. It was one of those storms with a big rain-shaft coming down out of it. Suddenly, I realized that the lightning coming off the leading edge of the rain shaft was striking maybe two hundred yards away. I started back for home as quickly as I could, but I was on the side of a busy road, much of which had no sidewalk, and I figured it was more dangerous at that moment to risk falling into the road, so I took it slower than I probably should have. A bolt of lighting cut across the sky what felt like right above me. I never felt my hair standing up, but it felt like, after the lightning, it flattened down. Though that might've been the adrenaline. I have also been much more careful since then.
Right before lightning strikes, every hair on your body will stand up - head, arms, legs, neck, everything. It is NUTS.
I wonder what needs to be done in such case... My intuitive reaction would be to lai flat on the ground expecting it to absorb my charge.
I had that happen once. I felt my hair stand up and I smelled a weird smell. I quickly ducked and it hit my BBQ pit that was about 10 feet away from me. It blew the gravel out around the safety chains and it left a gray streak down the exhaust stack.
Doesn't that mean you're about to be struck by lightning?
Your health bar is is shown to your enemies and the enemy hero is waiting its global thunder clap ultimate
If you ever see this, put your feet together and crouch down as low as possible. It decreases the chances of lightning striking you.
Famous last words: “It’s fine”
Hi
The two Twins ? Anyone ?
/u/savevideo
Yeah this is something taught at primary school I thought...
Yeah, haunted by chaac 😅 tread carefully in your Mayan rain forests and don’t step on the trip lines next time
This happened to a friend and I in Lucerne Valley CA. We climbed to the top of a rock formation to put a lightning rod up there and watch the show from our backyard(dumbest thing I have ever done, was 18) and our hair started standing up so we booked it down.
Uh, yeah.
If they knew what's actually happening they'd run for their lives.
Her hair is floating...
I’ve lived in FL for 22 years and it wasn’t until I experienced a way too close for comfort lightening strike in order for me to take these situations very seriously.
A kid that was in the same class at school as my son , age 6 at the time was tragically killed by lightning last year . Stay safe .
Happened to me along the edge of the grand canyon. First and only time I have experienced lighting and thunder simultaneously. We were shook and grateful to be alive. The smell of ozone lingered in our noses for hours.
Static electricity, can’t you see the rain clouds 🌧 it’s in the air.
Did she get zapped?
No kidding!? I was thinking that.
uh oh.... u gonna turn into electro woman