[Don't do this, it's stupid, we knew it was stupid, but YOLO college]
So there I was, going to the store with some friends to buy some snacks for a movie we were going to watch.
As we head back we see flashes of light and hear the crackling of thunder above us. It progressively gets worse and worse.
I live in something best described as a fraternity... but not... So when we got back a group of us decided to go up the biggest hill in town so we could watch the thunderstorm.
So we head out and make the hike up the slippery muddy paths. We walk up to a big clearing and sit down and look out towards the town.
[IMG_thumb]http://i.imgur.com/QjfHE4v.jpg[/IMG_thumb]
We don't get a lot of lightning this side of Oregon so to have such a massive thunderstorm was an awesome treat.
The lightning kept getting closer usually never striking the ground.
[IMG_thumb]http://i.imgur.com/7tbwTsN.jpg[/IMG_thumb]
I was nervous this whole time. The day we went up I just had a lecture on lightning safety in my accelerated college summer course. But I didn't need that to know this whole adventure was a dumb idea.
The rain was getting heavier and you could see it getting closer. Part of the town lost electricity and we saw it all go off at once.
Then...
[IMG_thumb]http://i.imgur.com/MXYMf9L.jpg[/IMG_thumb]
[IMG_thumb]http://i.imgur.com/LgOZ5u4.jpg[/IMG_thumb]
Lightning hit the base of the hill. We got up and started to head down the hill.
As we are halfway through the clearing another bolt hits this time yards away from us.
I'm looking right at it. I feel it go up my leg and instantly a tingling in my pinky toe. The sound was deafening and of course my eyes bleached with intense sudden light. As it faded I saw ozone burning in the path of the bolt before the rest of my vision returned.
The people I was with said that they felt it behind them, some people who were still looking back said they saw it in that direction whereas another group of us saw it in front of us. People were knocked off their feet presumably from the "shock" and also from the shock affecting the neurons in our muscles.
Did the bolt split over the top of us? I'd like to believe so. The fact that we felt the electricity in our legs technically means we were "struck" by lightning, ground lightning (which actually accounts for about 50% of lightning related deaths) but thankfully we weren't close enough for it to do any real damage.
I didn't get a video or picture of that blast. But it was intense.
We got back safe and sound. One guy's simcard got fried and my iPhone battery now jumps from 60% to 10% occasionally. But we are safe and sound.
[video=youtube;XQYGXosOl0o]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XQYGXosOl0o[/video]
You keep saying it was a dumb idea, it was stupid etc..
I'd be shocked if in hindsight you wouldn't have done it.
You were very lucky. I know someone who was struck directly by a bolt of lightning, and fractal scars were left behind on his body. I can't imagine how that would feel, let alone what you experienced.
do not test the god of thunder
[editline]6th August 2014[/editline]
pretty neat footage in that video though
you live in the fucking lorax or some shit don't you
[editline]6th August 2014[/editline]
nvm corvallis
that's badass tho
You didn't get electrocuted!
[sp]you're still alive![/sp]
I'm still very very jealous of your experience though. Being that close to that much electrical power and living is awesome.
All I've done is play zaps with a BDV tester (10kv, safe current levels) and tested a homemade car anti theft device using an ignition coil. It was awesome and painful.
[QUOTE=Mothman;45606780]You were very lucky. I know someone who was struck directly by a bolt of lightning, and fractal scars were left behind on his body. I can't imagine how that would feel, let alone what you experienced.[/QUOTE]
those fractal scars are pretty badass though
the worst shock i've got is mains to the index finger, i couldn't imagine how much more painful it could be than that. lightning must hurt like fuck when it strikes near you like that
You got extremy lucky up there. My grandma actually saw a girl getting struck by lightning directly, long, long ago. She died instantly.
reminds me of the time lighting hit right outside my window. I had no clue what happened, all I saw was a bright light and a really loud boom
[QUOTE=Mothman;45606780]You were very lucky. I know someone who was struck directly by a bolt of lightning, and fractal scars were left behind on his body. I can't imagine how that would feel, let alone what you experienced.[/QUOTE]
Fractal scars look fucking neat though
[t]https://pbs.twimg.com/media/BRKyLJnCUAAPiso.jpg[/t]
So that's always a good conversation starter
[QUOTE]The day we went up I just had a lecture on lightning safety[/QUOTE]
That's Murphy's Law warning you.
Lightning is around 30,000ºC when it strikes so you're also lucky to not get fried
Nice photos.
one time I touched an electric flyswatter B)
[QUOTE=MilkBagz;45610443]one time I touched an electric flyswatter B)[/QUOTE]
Flyswatter felt violated.
[QUOTE=Coyoteze;45608000]Fractal scars look fucking neat though
[t]https://pbs.twimg.com/media/BRKyLJnCUAAPiso.jpg[/t]
So that's always a good conversation starter[/QUOTE]
"hey, baby, I'm shocking"
On the way up I was blasting Thunderstruck in the minivan.
Also one girl blocked her face with her arm and said her arm was burning like crazy, there wasn't any sign of temperature damage so I'm pretty sure it was hysteria
(Girls do love hysteria)
Also right after the big one struck I booked it down the hill, ran right past my good friends who were hyperventilating and screaming and crying and laughing all at the same time.
I'm going to school to be a nurse... good instincts there...
Those ratings, hah.
Otherwise glad to see you didn't get completely fried OP.
Me and a buddy of mine had to do something like that once to get our DeLorean to go back to 1985.
I live on a small farm, and one time there was a bad storm coming in fast, so I had to help my dad close up the barn as well as get 2x five gallon buckets of water for the animals.
As I was turning the outside faucet off, because I had just finished filling the buckets, lightning struck across the rode and travelled through he ground and the metal faucet knob and into my arm.
It wasn't close enough to harm me, but it gave me a helluva poke, and a helluva story haha.
Once installed a yard light, it was touching the metal enough to electrify the whole metal fence we had near it.
I guess this kind of thing affects you for life.
The people I was with are talking about how they want to do it again.
Idiots.
Also I got an intense urge to go hiking nearby in a place where there has been cougar sightings.
Great.
My dad once saw someone pissing on a grave get struck by lightning
Don't fuck with dead people yo
-snip-
haha wrong thread
Your one lucky man
Now try and shoot lighting out of your hands
