Was I hit by lightning?

NIMAN · 05-01-2012 8:53am #1

Strange title I know, but I was driving this morning at around 6:30am through the worst conditions I have seen in a car in my driving history. It was over a notorious mountain area.

Usual storm force/swirling winds of recent days, very heavy rain and wipers on full tilt were barely clearing the windscreen. Then the rain turned to huge hailstones and the visibility got down to a few metres, as they were being whipped up by the wind and seemed to be forming a wall of hail about 5ft high in front of the car.

I had to slow down to maybe 15/20mph on a road that I know well.

Then the light hit me. I have seen plenty of big lightning storms and have seen flashes in the sky before. But this was totally different.

It wasn't as if the flash was in the sky in front of you that you could see, but around me, if that makes sense. Best comparison I can think of is that of looking into a very bright torch for a few seconds. It was the brightest lightning I can remember.

I had to immediately hit the brakes and slow the car as I couldn't see. This blindness lasted for maybe 5secs and then I could see again, but my eyes were very sore. Even now as I type this nearly 90mins later, my eyes still don't feel right.

So the big question, could the car possibly have been hit? The conditions for maybe 10mins before this incident were so bad I get the feeling I must have been right in the centre of a storm.

Any thoughts?

Chuck Stone · 05-01-2012 9:19am

Wow! Sounds scary. Glad you're okay.

I think a car acts like a Faraday Cage when hit by lightning so it's certainly possible that you got struck without being burned alive iykwim.

Wouldn't it have blown fuses and stuff in the car though?

Edit: found this..

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GZxgYNnkBd0

NIMAN · 05-01-2012 9:25am

Yeah always knew the story that being in a car was safe in a storm due to the rubber tyres, but what happened to me was, imho, not just seeing lightning in the sky. It was a bit of those experiences that seemed to be a bit out of body. Just strange, when you ask after it, "what the hell just happened there?".

Jumpy · 05-01-2012 9:25am

No.

I have been 100 feet from a lightning strike and can describe exactly what you are referring to.

It only has to be close to be bright. The sound however should have set your ears ringing for hours.

Its like a tree being pulled apart but turned up to 11. The light doesnt stun you anywhere near as much as how loud it is.

If you didnt hear anything its unlikely it was too close.

NIMAN · 05-01-2012 9:58am

I did heard an immediate thunder clap, but it wasn't any louder than usual tbh. It was definitely the light that shocked me. My eyes still feel 'tender' or strange even now.

I was chatting to a fellow workmate this morning, and he was approaching from the other direction. We might have been maybe 25miles apart. He said he seen a huge flash of light too, and a really bright fork of lightning in the distance.

Perhaps this fork he seen hit somewhere close to where I was?

BlackWizard · 05-01-2012 10:21am

Attempted UFO abduction? :pac:

norrie rugger · 05-01-2012 10:40am

NIMAN wrote: »

Yeah always knew the story that being in a car was safe in a storm due to the rubber tyres, but what happened to me was, imho, not just seeing lightning in the sky. It was a bit of those experiences that seemed to be a bit out of body. Just strange, when you ask after it, "what the hell just happened there?".

Nothing to do with the rubber tyres. The electricity has traveled through the sky for several thousand feet so the 12inches, of air, beneth your car floor and ground is nothing to pass through.
The car is safe as the metal body of the car is a much easier pathway to the ground than passing through the plastics, fabric, you etc. This causes, as mentioned by Chuck, a Faraday Cage effect

WolfeIRE · 05-01-2012 10:48am

http://andvari.vedur.is/athuganir/eldingar/i_dag_na.html

Lightning radar shows no strikes in Donegal today, which is interesting but of course not conclusive. The high terrain you were on probably was experiencing completely different conditions to lower ground.

If your car was hit by lightning I would imagine you should have heard a very loud crack or a noise similar to a cracked whip?

Mothman · 05-01-2012 11:01am

The noise would have deafened you if it hit the car. likely to be a strike nearby imho.

Or electric wires/transformer which can light up quite bright

but there wouldn't be the thunder clap, so probably not this

DOCARCH · 05-01-2012 11:59am

WolfeIRE wrote: »

If your car was hit by lightning I would imagine you should have heard a very loud crack or a noise similar to a cracked whip?

If you got a direct hit, that's what I would expect you might hear.

If you got a direct hit, I don't think you would necessarily hear immediate loud/deafening thunder as the sound wave would be moving away from you in all directions?

Just a theory - has me thinking!

gbee · 05-01-2012 12:12pm

If one factors in a Ball Lightning scenario, then the audible aspect wouldn't be a strong particle. [?]

CiaranMcDCFC · 05-01-2012 12:23pm

I remember as a kid being in the car with my father and driving towards Carndonagh, we were hit by lightning but we saw the bolt hit. Can remember there being a loud noise but do not recall ears ringing for hours afterwards. Think it was more a shock or seeing it happen but thinking it was really cool at the same time. We were not surrounded by light more a flash on the bonnet as it hit.

SeaFields · 05-01-2012 12:44pm

Whenever a lightning storm passing close to the girlfriends parents house, with each flash of lightning the phone rings.

Any explanations for this? Just current running along the phonelines?

kwik · 05-01-2012 1:14pm

You would have been deaf for a while. I remember being fifthteen feet from a tree that got struck and i could'nt hear for about a half hour.

NIMAN · 05-01-2012 1:21pm

Thanks for all the feedback folks.

OK so the car probably wasn't hit, but it was still completely different from any lightning I have witnessed in my 40 odd years. It was not a case of seeing the sky in front of you and seeing it light up. I was simply blinded for a split second and I was surrounded by light, and it was super bright.

I like the Aliens idea, or maybe I imagined it all, didn't sleep much last night with the storm!

spiderman1885 · 05-01-2012 1:25pm

Perhaps someone was trying to take you to the island in Lost?

Pangea · 05-01-2012 1:29pm

A bright lightening strike here last month left me blinded for a few seconds, takes a while for the eyes to readjust. Same way if someone shines a torch in your eyes.

irishmotorist · 05-01-2012 2:29pm

Just a question to those who have been near a strike and have commented on the noise. Was the noise from the lightning, do you know, or from a tree exploding? Could it be that if a car was hit and didn't explode that the described noise wouldn't be there?

CiaranMcDCFC · 05-01-2012 2:32pm

From my memory, and it was more years ago than I care to think about, it sounded like someone had thumped the bonnet of the car, just a really loud bang but definitely not enough to leave me, or anyone else in the car, temporarily deaf.

pacquiao · 05-01-2012 2:35pm

NIMAN wrote: »

Yeah always knew the story that being in a car was safe in a storm due to the rubber tyres, but what happened to me was, imho, not just seeing lightning in the sky. It was a bit of those experiences that seemed to be a bit out of body. Just strange, when you ask after it, "what the hell just happened there?".

It's not the tires. It's the fact that you're inside a metal box. Must of been some experience .

gbee · 05-01-2012 2:37pm

pacquiao wrote: »

It's not the tires. It's the fact that you're inside a metal box.Glad you didn't get hurt. Sounded scary.

Still n all if you had puncture, you'd probably fry. :cool:

kwik · 05-01-2012 2:38pm

irishmotorist wrote: »

Just a question to those who have been near a strike and have commented on the noise. Was the noise from the lightning, do you know, or from a tree exploding? Could it be that if a car was hit and didn't explode that the described noise wouldn't be there?

I always thought it was from the lightning but i would say it could have been the tree also.......or maybe a bit of both

pacquiao · 05-01-2012 2:38pm

gbee wrote: »

Still n all if you had puncture, you'd probably fry. :cool:

nope, you'd be grand

seamus · 05-01-2012 2:46pm

If the car itself was directly hit, you would probably notice serious damage to the bodywork, as lightning generates stupid amount of heat.

SeaFields wrote: »

Whenever a lightning storm passing close to the girlfriends parents house, with each flash of lightning the phone rings.

Any explanations for this? Just current running along the phonelines?

Yep, I'd say so. Typically when a current runs to earth, it just dissipates because "earth" is so enormous. So you can stand beside a massive current flowing into the ground and not get electrocuted.

However, the amount of energy in a lightning strike (1.21 jigawatts :pac: ) is so enormous, that it doesn't necessarily dissipate immediately and instead can "electrify" quite a large area of the ground in the immediate vicinity briefly. The most famous example of this occured in 1998 - http://www.independent.co.uk/news/lightning-kills-an-entire-football-team-1181336.html - where an entire football team was killed while the other left unhurt after lightning hit the pitch. Details around it are still sketchy, but it's generally now considered to be a truthful report. The reason behind it was that one team were all wearing a particular type of boot which had metal contacts on the studs which connected with the ground. The other team had studs with an all-plastic covering. The pitch was electrified just enough to kill one team, but not enough to get through the plastic casing on the other teams' boots.
The report is dubious enough, but lightning hits football pitches on a surprisingly regular basis and causes injuries to players.

However, in the case of your gf's house, it could equally be static. Lightning bolts generate a lot of static electricity and can generate a small current in nearby wiring and metal structures.

DOCARCH · 05-01-2012 3:12pm

seamus wrote: »

If the car itself was directly hit, you would probably notice serious damage to the bodywork, as lightning generates stupid amount of heat.

Lightning strikes aircraft frequently and you do not get serious damage. At worst a small dent where the lightning hits.

seamus · 05-01-2012 3:16pm

DOCARCH wrote: »

Lightning strikes aircraft frequently and you do not get serious damage. At worst a small dent where the lightning hits.

Of course, apologies when I said "bodywork" I really meant "paintwork". You'd be lucky to come away with no visible burn marks from a lightning strike.

blackius · 05-01-2012 3:27pm

gbee wrote: »

Still n all if you had puncture, you'd probably fry. :cool:

Ya would not.
I was at the theatre of electricity at the Boston science museum where they had a man made lightning machine and a faraday cage.
They got 3 willing volunteers from the audience to step inside the cage with the professor guy.
I was not willing...

The cage was like a bird cage really shaped like a giant dome maybe 10ft tall by 10ft wide.
Yer man set the lightning maker to have the bolts directly hit the cage while they were in it.
They didn't feel a thing.
The lightning was very bright and the crack almost deafening for each bolt and they were hitting that cage goodo for about 5 minutes or so.

It's been a couple of years since I've been so I'm not sure if they still run the shows.
But if they do,it's well worth a visit.

http://www.mos.org/sln/toe/history.html

fits · 05-01-2012 4:32pm

AAAGGGHHHH Lightning TERRIFIES me. Why am I even reading this thread???????

Victor Meldrew · 05-01-2012 5:57pm

16 years ago, I was driving on trail ridge road in the Rocky Mountain National park, (+ 10,000 feet above sea level, - scenic route, so you drive very slowly) when lightning hit the road in front of me, no more than a car length.

A bit of Tarmac flew up in the air, there was a flash and a bang, but we were not deafened. The nice young lady I had with me was freaked out though. "Ah, sure you are safe in a car" did not placate her... Ruined the date, and any thoughts of snuggling up on the bench seat of the car...

OP could have been that close

Conor30 · 05-01-2012 6:24pm

WolfeIRE wrote: »

http://andvari.vedur.is/athuganir/eldingar/i_dag_na.html

Lightning radar shows no strikes in Donegal today, which is interesting but of course not conclusive. The high terrain you were on probably was experiencing completely different conditions to lower ground.

If your car was hit by lightning I would imagine you should have heard a very loud crack or a noise similar to a cracked whip?

It does actually - over east Donegal between 6 and 9 a.m. Have another look!

Wertz · 05-01-2012 7:02pm

seamus wrote: »

Of course, apologies when I said "bodywork" I really meant "paintwork". You'd be lucky to come away with no visible burn marks from a lightning strike.

It's hard to say but a prominent aerial would take in the initial hit if a car was struck... if the radio still works then probably a good indication the aerial wasn't hit so a scorch at some point on the paintwork of the roof/bonnet/tailgate would indicate a strike.

As for the thunder bit... if you're at ground zero in a strike the air expands away radially in all directions forming the shockwave we hear as thunder... it probably doesn't sound as loud at the inital strike point as it would say 10 ft away in any direction. Just surmising there but makes sense I think.

Did the OP witness a cloud to cloud strike whilst in the middle of one (a cloud) and hence being surrounded by the lightning without being struck? There tends to be a lot more "light" and a lot less thunder with that type of sheet lightning.

John mac · 05-01-2012 7:51pm

I was working in Milan years ago, on the way back from a football match lightning struck about 50 Meters in front of the car. we were deafened by it as well as blinded..

science museum in Boston gives a great show on lightning,as blackius said. 12 years ago i saw it.

premiercad · 05-01-2012 7:55pm

The one thing i remember from a close encounter with a lighting bolt a few years back was the "fizz" electric sound it made, thats how I knew it was close when i could here the strike and not just the thunder

Some videos here of what I mean

Storm Chasers - you can hear the fizz hear but the thunder is mixed in too

this guy shows a hit on his truck right at the end (Photos only)

and this one you can hear the ground strike then the thunder follows.

as for the brightness I could well believe you could be seeing stars for a few mins after as it was prob quiet dark and your eyes wouldn't be ready for the huge increase in lux levels!!

dfx- · 05-01-2012 8:02pm

How far away would you have to be to see the recognisable 'bolt' and not just be swamped by the light? If it was a direct hit or very close, I would expect what was described by the OP.

4Sheets · 05-01-2012 9:57pm

Interesting thread..you did say you couldnt see out the window..any chance it was headlights of approaching car? clutching at straws I Know..but there has to be a plausible explanation..do you get migraines or similar?
It seems obvious the car was not damaged thus rules out direct strike plus no sferics? ball lightning is still a myth as far as I know..
Maybe this?
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/St._Elmo's_fire

Er..maybe not..why did I think that?

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6ioN-3UWYrY

rc28 · 05-01-2012 10:07pm

Interesting experience. There was one bolt of lightning here on Tuesday during one of the squalls but the thunder was really quiet (probably because of both the noise of the wind and the fact that it was sheet lightning and didn't hit the ground). Here are two good videos of cars being hit by lightning:

In the first one from inside a car you don't really hear the thunder:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VGv20HGy1b8&feature=related
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lUUOdO6eEZA

djmc · 06-01-2012 1:31am

Had a similar thing happen me driving out of model farm road in cork city about
18 or 20 years ago blinding flash and really loud bang felt like I was inside an
explosion scared the s*** out of me.
The guy in the car in front of me came out and looked at the back of his car and
some alarms went off near by.
I dont know if it was a direct hit but it was damn close.

NIMAN · 07-01-2012 9:52am

4Sheets wrote: »

Interesting thread..you did say you couldnt see out the window..any chance it was headlights of approaching car? clutching at straws I Know..but there has to be a plausible explanation..do you get migraines or similar?
It seems obvious the car was not damaged thus rules out direct strike plus no sferics? ball lightning is still a myth as far as I know..
Maybe this?
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/St._Elmo's_fire

Er..maybe not..why did I think that?

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6ioN-3UWYrY

I was the only car on the road, nothing approaching me at all.

And believe me, although I do not know exactly what happened, this was no set of headlights. It was one of the brightest flashes I have ever seen. I had to hit the brakes as I literally was blinded for maybe 5secs. And for hours after it my eyes were full of those little blurs you get after you stare into a bright light. And it was not a light in the sky or in the distance. You know normally if you see lightning, you can still see your surroundings? You see the flash but can still see the terrain, the sky, the clouds, the houses etc. Well I could see nothing but white light. Like you'd see in a film about someone dying. Nothing but pure light, all around me. Nothing else. I couldn't see the inside of the car, nothing.

I did hear thunder or a bang or something at the same time, but it wasn't overly loud or anything. I had heard thunder about a week or two before while lying in my bed, and that was LOUD, the loudest thunder I had ever heard in my life. But this sound was nowhere near as loud.

I see no damage at all on the surface of the car, so my guess is that there may have been a strike in a nearby field or an electricity pole or something.

As for a plausible explanation - why could a lightning strike on the car or a field beside me not be plausible? I don't suffer from migraines, I didn't imagine it, I had just drove through a storm that was the worst I have ever experienced in 20yrs of driving, visibility was down to feet when the hailstorm was that heavy. Co-workers maybe 25 miles away were all chatting about that blast of lightning they seen, amazed at the fork they seen in the distance, which was in my direction. These YouTube videos prove that lightning has to hit somewhere, so why not near me?

Was I hit by lightning?

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