As the sun went down yesterday a thunderstorm moved over the Thornton area. It provided some brief, heavy rain which was very welcome given our drought stricken landscape. Accompanying the moisture was a good bit of lightning which lit up the post-sunset sky.
Our west facing webcam captured one bolt as it struck turning night into day for a brief instant.
The old saying says not to mess with Mother Nature and she apparently wanted to drive that point home in Boston yesterday. During a live weather forecast on WBZ-TV yesterday a lightning strike knocked the lights out in the studio.
Thunderstorms rolled through much of the northeastern United States yesterday. The storms brought heavy rain, strong wind and plenty of lightning.
Ironically Chief Meteorologist Todd Gutner was discussing those exact weather conditions when the bolt hit.
Following the boom of thunder and a burst of static the lights went out and some of the displays flickered. Amazingly enough the station was able to continue broadcasting and Gutner finished his forecast, albeit a bit in the dark.
Check out the video below.
Lightning is a very real danger, particularly here in Colorado where thunderstorms are common in the spring and summer months. The chances, while somewhat remote, always exist to be struck by lighting and a new YouTube video appears to show a man being struck not once, but twice.
The amazing video surfaced on YouTube last week and shows the danger lightning presents. People are seen walking with umbrellas in what appears to be inclement weather. About 25 seconds into the video, a man quickly walks along a driveway when suddenly a bright flash occurs and the man falls to the ground. Watch the video below.
After lying prone for a time the man comes to his senses, rises, and stumbles down the driveway. He only makes it a short distance before a second bolt from the blue strikes knocking him down yet again. Amazingly, after lying on the ground for another 20 seconds the man manages to get up and stumble off out of the camera’s view.
As you watch the video you notice a dark spot appearing beneath each place where the man appears to be struck. Speculation in the comments for the video is that it is either a burned spot on the pavement from the intense heat of the lightning or perhaps evidence that the man soiled himself when he was struck.
The writing in the top right corner is in Chinese but the location it was taken is unknown. There is also some debate as to the authenticity of the video as commenters raised a number of questions about the video.
Severe weather in Colorado brings a variety of conditions with lightning being very common in the Centennial State. From 1980 to 2009, 88 people were killed and 400 injured in the state by lightning. Colorado consistently ranks as one the top states for lightning-related fatalities in the nation. Learn more about lightning and lightning safety in the recommended links below.
While the video portrays an unlikely course of events, it is not outside the realm of possibility. The odds of an individual being struck by lightning in the United States in a given year are 1 in 500,000. Over a lifetime the odds are 1 in 3,000 which is a sobering statistic.
Rarely however is a person struck more than once with the National Weather Service putting the odds of being struck twice at 1 in 9 million over a lifetime. Mother Nature does not always conform to statistical rules however as Roy Sullivan, a park ranger in Shenandoah National Park in Virginia learned. Mr. Sullivan holds the Guinness World Record for being struck more times than any other human being – seven times between 1942 and 1977.
An Air France jet en route from Rio de Janeiro to Paris carrying 228 people appears to have been lost over the Atlantic Ocean. The plane which disappeared approximately 190 miles northeast of the Brazilian city of Natal may have been brought down by severe weather the plane was flying through at the time it lost contact with air traffic controller.
Air France Flight 447 is reported to have hit strong turbulence and possibly lightning as the result of a thunderstorm. Air France says the plane, an Airbus A330, left Rio de Janeiro at 7:00pm local time and approximately four hours late the plan sent an automated signal indicating electrical problems. The airline said the plane “crossed through a thunderous zone with strong turbulence.” The automated message was received 14 minutes later at 0214GMT (10:14 pm EDT Sunday) “signaling electrical circuit malfunction.”
Francois Brousse, head of communications at Air France, “The plane might have been struck by lightning. It’s a possibility.”
| For the complete story and the latest images from the tragedy, please visit our Denver Weather Examiner pages. |  |
In an interesting piece from the National Safety Council, they outline many of the unnatural ways you could die and what the chances are that they would actually happen. The good news is that weather most likely won’t kill you. The bad news is there are lots of other ways that you have a better chance of dying from.
Over your lifetime, the NSC calculates you have a 1 in 22 chance (YIKES!) that you will die from something other than natural causes. Motor vehicle accidents are probably the most common way with a 1 in 84 chance you will die in a crash. Hmmm. I think I will walk home – at least then my chances jump to 1 in 267!
| This article was also posted to the Denver Weather Examiner site. Get more local news and information on Examiner.com. |  |