Lightning Awareness week
Hope you’re all doing well today. Thankfully the weather is pretty quiet today — we have a few thunderstorms that could develop over the Plains, parts of the Midwest and the Gulf Coast, but nothing too major. The flood zones could get wet later on this week, but I don’t think it’s going to be enough to exacerbate the rivers that are still cresting. The heat across the west is now spreading into the south, but the numbers of wildfires across Northern California are staggering. 27 large fires are burning across over 96 thousand acres. Altogether, there are over 800 fires burning across the state right now. Firefighters certainly could use a little help from the weather right now. Along the coast, temperatures are much cooler than they were a few days ago with the influence of the ocean, but the interior sections remain warm and dry.
Oh, and I forgot to mention that this week is Lightning Awareness week. If you’d like to brush up on this topic, you can visit here for all sorts of great information. Summer is the peak season for lightning strikes, and on average, over 60 people are killed each year by lightning. I think it’s a good idea for all of us to be aware of the different dangers outdoors.
(Photo courtesy of Clipart)
Ok - that’s it for now. I have some graphics training to do this am, so I will check in when I can. Also wanted to tell you that tomorrow I have some relatives in town, so I’m going to be off for the next few days, but will try to take some pics of our sightseeing.
Also - a couple of you mentioned the death of George Carlin. I was never a huge fan, but I do have his book “When will Jesus bring the Pork Chops”…which is very clever. And of course, his Al Sleet “the Hippy Dippy Weather Man” is a favorite of all weather folks. I found this clip on U-Tube if you want to take a peak:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=D1uaw3WIOlc
Talk to y’all later!
jd
Hey Janice,
It amazes me how so many people ignore the dangers of lightning. When parents sit on their front porch while kids are out playing in the street with thunder and lightning nearby, you gotta wonder what they’re thinking (or not thinking as the case may be). People just don’t use any common sense sometimes. The results can be tragic.
We’ll miss you while you’re off! I hope you’ll give us an open blog so we can have more of the interesting conversations we’ve been having lately. There are a great bunch of people on this blog and I enjoy keeping in touch with them. Have fun with your family!
Have a great day everyone!
Margie
Good morning JD,
Have a great time showing your relatives the town!!
Having worked at a forest fire lookout tower on a mountaintop I can certainly speak about lightning awareness. Here is the link for this blog and what I had posted about life at a fire tower and dealing with lightning.
Comment by Bill S in Scotia, NY
February 21st, 2008 at 1:48 pm
Janice,
That cartoon with the cloud throwing lightning bolts down sends shivers down my spine. It makes me remember the numerous thunderstorms I sat through at the Pillsbury Mtn. fire tower. The summit elevation at Pillsbury is 3,597 ft.
While on duty in the fire tower an approaching thunderstorm can be seen for miles. Once determined that the storm will hit the mountain its time to sign off and get off the tower. Here in New York we did not live inside the fire towers, a cabin was provided for living. Mine was 45 feet away, a real tough commute.
Stop and think about it………..you’re on a mountaintop inside the storm not down below the storm. It gets dark, not pitch black, but rather a deep steel blue color. The sound is deafening and the lightning flash is similar to a strobe light in a Disco requiring sunglasses. Lightning is flashing all about not striking the ground, it’s shooting horizontal at knee high level.
The smell in the air, I am told is Ozone, and it is very strong. Static electricity is higher than one can imagine, I once looked at myself in the mirror and my hair was standing straight up. We all had wired telephones at the fire towers and they were the source of all danger to the forest fire observers.
No one told me that at the last telephone pole, 15 feet from the cabin, I had to remove the fuses from the ground block and throw off the knife switch to disconnect the circuit. In that first storm the telephone line was struck someplace along the 5 mile length and a blue ball of electricity, the size of a baseball, traveled up the line. As I did not give it a clear path to the Earth this ball of energy jumped to the line leading into the cabin. It blew the phone off the wall and it smashed against the opposite wall. All that was left was a gooey blob of melted plastic and metal and it remained hot for nearly an hour.
I always felt that the lightning was being thrown down on me. Trust me one acquires religion fast in this situation.
Comment by Janice Dean
February 21st, 2008 at 7:21 pm
Scary stuff Bill. You are a great storyteller! Felt like I was there reading your experience.
Have Fun at Training!!
I hope you are not subjected to “death by powerpoint” at it. 
Have fun being “Tammy Tourist” with the guests. You sometimes don’t go see things that are local unless you have visitors in town. It happens a lot here in D.C.
I had my lightning miss off the west coast of the Cape Verde Islands a few years back on a LST. We were on the weather deck working during the brginning of a storm and felt the air charge. We were always told if you felt that and your hair started to stand up, you were to drop to the deck. We did and the flash/boom scared everyone as the lightning found the antennae mast a few feet away. We decided it would be safer to get down and continue later…..after we changed our pants!
Wow Bill! Sounds like you has some close ones!! But then you tower guys always were like “Ranger Gord” on the Red Green show!
Yes Don any NYS Forest Ranger will say that we were a bit…hmm, touched!
Bill what a surprise you are a risk taker!
Oh Kathy if only you knew………….
That site is a great read. Even though lightening doesnt strike at your nieghborhood, its always good to be prepared and ready. A lot of people dont know how danger it can be. People need to always use their own judgement and be aware of your surroundings, in order to stay safe.
The death of George Carlin was really sad. I remember seeing a interview with Jerry Seinfeld on Youtube yesterday, He recalld how he recently talked to him, and how he was worried that is was going to die soon. I wonder if he was anticipating his own death? That is really scary.
Carlin also had the joke.. I don’t wanna be buried…..I don’t wanna be creamated…….I wanna be Blown UP!.
He had heart problems the last few years and I think he knew it was coming
Sunny and bright this am, power goes off! (930-1020am). Oh the joys.