What was a beautiful sunny day with large white billowing clouds low on the horizon has turned progresively darker. The clouds are now almost black, and the temperature has dropped. You are now sure you are in for a real storm ...but not just any storm: a thunderstorm. One with a spectacular light show and driving rain. In fact you are going to come face to face with nature's largest and most regular display of electricity, lightning. Static electricity builds up on the clouds as they move through the sky. Charges of several million volts are not uncommon. Whenever a charge builds up, it will seek to neutralize itself. This is because all systems attempt to come to rest in the state that requires the lowest energy. The lowest state for electricity is usually found in the earth itself. This is normally call earth ground.

Lightning contains a lot of power. It typically delivers 100,000,000 volts and can create heat alond its path of up to 60,000 degree Farenheit. Bolts of lightning most often branch out many times like a large Christmas tree.

Lightning usually takes on one of two forms: cloud-to-cloud and ground strikes. Most lightning is from one cloud to another. Ground strikes are less common, but much more frightening. they frighten us because cloud-to-cloud strikes don't hit us (or things near us), whereas gound strikes may.

Air is an insulator (meaning that current does not readily flow through open air). Therefore, in order for lightning to arc to the ground, there has to be a whole lot of power behind it. Lightning follows a path that if continuously creates in front of itself. A small bolt reaches the ground and a much larger return bolt flows from the ground (or object struck) , back along the exact same path. Therefore, anything that gets hit by lightning gets hit twice!

Light, heat, ionization, explosion
In a lightning strike, electrical power can manifest inone of four ways: light, heat, ionization, and explosion. Lightning is very bright,of course. Some of the power in the lightning bolt is dissipated, or used up, in the characteristic light associated with it. Remember that when a tree is struck by lightning it usually catches fire. That's the heat in the lightning bolt.

Sometimes a smell of ozone is in the air after a lightning strike. Ozone is a form of oxygen in a different configuration than the one we're used to . So much power is dumped into the air that it actually rips air molecules apart and rearranges them.

The last sign is explosions. When lightning strikes something, so much power enters the thing that is struck that the power can't all be absorbed. The object of the strike tries to convert the power into heat and can't handle all the heat. The result is an explosion.

Current has several by-products, including heat, fire, explosion, vaporization, and electrocution. When lightning strikes an object, and enormous amount of heat can be created. Whenever the heat exceeds the flash point of a flammable material, it will catch fire and burn. If sufficient energy is transferred (as heat) from the lightning bolt to the object that is struck, the moisture in the object becomes gas. That gas expands so rapidly that pressure builds up, and the object explodes. A tree that gets hit and explodes suddenly becomes a wooden gernade, complete with schrapnel, and may drop large limbs on someone standing beneath it.

In the body, muscle contraction begins at about 0.02 amps. As long as the current is applied, the muscles remain contracted. The same mechanism used by the brain to make the body move. Only 0.07 amps are required to stop the heart, a condition known as electrocution. As little 175 volts can stop the heart if the victim is wet with sweat or other ionized moisture. Electrocution can happen quickly and be complicated by burning and destruction of tissue along the path of the current.

If you feel it coming, dive!
Can you tell when you are about to be struck by lightning? There is often a warning: a feeling similar to wht happens when you touch a static electricity generator, or whenyou take the clothes out of the dryer and seperate a static sock from a towel. The result is that people about to be hit can feel the hair ontheir bodies stand on end and sometimes report a tingling sensation.

If you are in a storm and feel this, act immediately. This is all the warning you are going to get. GEt as low as you can to the ground. If you are not the highest point around, you are less likely to be hit. If you can find a nearby ditch get into it. Rolling to the ditch is much smarter than running there. Rolling in something wet will also help to get rid of the charge accumulation on your body. Avoid holding on to anything metal. If you have a tool in your hand, drop it. If you are touching a metal object, get away from it. If you are on a roof, get off. Don't do anything that will make you a more attractive target for the lightning.

Some damage to buildings and land can be averted by employing lightning rods. The role of lightning is to attract lightning and direct its energy to a safe target: the ground. The idea is that you can control where the lightning hits and steer it away from people, property, trees and livestock. The key to using a lightning rod effectively is to put it up high and ground it well. Plan on three or four on a building to make it really safe.

Do lightning rods work? You bet! They are used from chicago to Florida. Wherever you have frequent lightning you will find - and should be using - lightning rods.

Power surges

Lightning often hits a power grid or generator. These power surges can be handled by using a couple of strategies. The first is to use a surge protector on all of the electrical appliances in the house (especially your computer.) These detect surges and react very quickly. You must manually reset the protector each time it is tripped.

More electrically handy people put dual transorbs and metal oxide variators between the power lines and the point of entry to the house. The transorb keeps the voltage between the two lines at a set voltage and won't allow it to go any higher. Consult a professional for this one.

Counting the distance
There's an old saying that you can tell how far away lightning is by counting the itme between seeing the flash of lightning and hearing the thunder. This is absolutely true. Counting each second ("one -one thousand one, one - one thousand two") will give you a rough idea of the time elapsed. Dividing the number of seconds by five will give you the distance to the lightning in miles.

Protect yourself
If possible, don't go out in a thunderstorm. Be aware of weather conditions.
If you are out in a storm, make sure that you are not the highest point. Stay off the top of hills. Don't make yourself look taller to the lightning by holding things up or holding on to trees or structures. Stay off roofs.
In a thunderstorm, don't take refuge under a tree. The tree may be hit and turn into schrapnel, or fall on you.
Stay away from metal. Metal generally attracts lightning. This also means that you should not shower or bathe during storms. Your pipes are made of metal, and current flows through wet things, including people.
Don't sit on the toilet if can help it. You're sitting right in the way of a direct ground.
Pay attention to your body. It will tell you if you are about to be hit. When you feel the warning signs (a feeling of static electricity, hair standing on end, a tingling sensation), take action immediately; get low (roll into a ditch if possible).
Don't talk on the telephone. The phone lines are not immune to lightning strikes.
If you are in a high-lightning area, use lightning rods on your buildings and install surge protection for your house and electronics.

Condensed from an article written by Albert H. Carlson
Backwoods Home Magazine, 1257 Siskiyou Blvd, Ashland, OR 97520.
Reprinted with permission.