LIGHTNING...

[Dean Huster]

When we lived in Piedmont OK (NW of OKC), we lived on top of the highest hill for miles, no trees on the property, nothing taller than the house and an absolutely magnificant view of the entire OKC metro area. We had some fierce storms come through there, right down the center of "tornado alley" and were never struck by lightning in the 10 years we were there. It struck the metal-post barbed wire fence around the property, but not the house.

We moved into NW OKC to a typical subdivision, some houses taller than ours, a row of tall poplar trees along our driveway. Lightning hit our guttering the first year, taking out the garage door opener (three distinct problems that I fixed), the garage door combo lock I'd designed and built from TTL (all ICs toast), ate our answering maching and VCR, travelled down the downspout to the power cord to the travel trailer on the driveway and took out the CB radio, refrigerator control and electric element in the water heater, and blew a hole in the mud at the end of the downspout.

You can't figure out lightning.

[MicroRem]

Obviously, Dean, It's your magnetic personality..........

[Dean Huster]

I've never considered myself to be attractive.

[ltx71cm]

The banter here is positively electrifying.

[Bob Scott]

When we lived in Piedmont OK (NW of OKC), we lived on top of the highest hill for miles, no trees on the property, nothing taller than the house and an absolutely magnificant view of the entire OKC metro area. We had some fierce storms come through there, right down the center of "tornado alley" and were never struck by lightning in the 10 years we were there. It struck the metal-post barbed wire fence around the property, but not the house.
You can't figure out lightning.

Where I grew up most of my childhood from grades 3 thru 11 in small farm town Ontario (9 years), lightning struck the neighbors elm tree half a dozen times in those 9 years. Nothing else in the neighborhood. We thought that the probably cause was minerals in the ground being conductive. It is mineral rich glacier carved rocky "badlands" in most of Ontario.

[reloadron]

Probably 80% or greater of the times I have seen where lightening strike I walked away wondering why it chose to strike where it did and logically defy every rule I seem to think it should have followed. Apparently lightening is unaware of how we seem to think it should behave. Years ago the house beside my sister's place took a pretty good strike. That house situated between my sister's and the other house beside it was a small single story dwelling, the houses on either side were two story plus. There were taller trees than that house all around it. Logically there were a few dozen better targets and it struck that house. This was years ago and my sister's only loss was the telephone modem card in her computer. My sister said a blinding flash, one hell of a crack and the smell of ozone throughout her house. Scared the hell out of her.

Lightening is just going to do as it pleases and that is about it in my opinion.

Ron

[Robert Reed]

Agreed Ron
Weird stuff - that lightning. Two years ago, a bolt hit my neighbors 40 ft. spruce in his front yard scorching the bark off. Our kitchen wall is 90 ft from that tree and with a lot of tall oaks in between. Yet it managed to not only take out a GFI outlet on that wall but also turn it into charcoal. No other effects were noted in any other part of the house.
Another time years ago, I was called out to repair a remote base receiver for the Willoughby Cab Co. The station had taken a lightning strike thru the Telco lines and tore thru every protective device (3) that Telco had on those lines.The lines then proceeded to their destination point in the repeater. Of all the head end circuits it should have taken out, they were surprisingly unaffected. Yet buried deep in the circuit, many, many cascaded stages from the hits entry point was a somewhat charred IC that it did take out. Kind of defies any troubleshooting logic here. I have pondered these two situations a lot and come up with no apparent reason for them. I guess it's like the 800 lb. gorilla, when asked what it does and the reply is "whatever it wants to do".