Why You Don't Ride Or Race Near Storms

EngIceDave
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EngIceDave
Edited Date/Time 6/9/2019 11:40pm
Struck by lightning on I-95.....No one is on 95 going less than 80mph, and that's during a hurricane!!

https://www.wftv.com/traffic/incidents/breaking-news-motorcyclist-dies-…

Don't ride anywhere near storms, bro
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Sweetd31
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Sweetd31 6/9/2019 3:48pm
6/9/2019 3:48pm
Yikes, was not expecting the helmet full of blood photo.
Dcope17
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Dcope17 6/9/2019 7:16pm
6/9/2019 7:16pm
I can't play an expert here, but if you were driving a car and got struck by lightning, you could end up crashing that too. Only difference being a car surrounding you but at 80mph, might not matter too much.
EngIceDave
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EngIceDave 6/9/2019 8:20pm
6/9/2019 8:20pm
Dcope17 wrote:
I can't play an expert here, but if you were driving a car and got struck by lightning, you could end up crashing that too. Only...
I can't play an expert here, but if you were driving a car and got struck by lightning, you could end up crashing that too. Only difference being a car surrounding you but at 80mph, might not matter too much.
Weather guy says in a car, surrounded by metal, your 4 tires protect you, kind grounds out the car, I guess
But on a bike, it whacks you directly, you have nothing around you
Cancerman
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Cancerman 6/9/2019 9:21pm
6/9/2019 9:21pm
Sweetd31 wrote:
Yikes, was not expecting the helmet full of blood photo.
That's not blood, that's internal parts of the helmet liner.
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joemamma
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joemamma 6/9/2019 11:40pm
6/9/2019 11:40pm
EngIceDave wrote:
Weather guy says in a car, surrounded by metal, your 4 tires protect you, kind grounds out the car, I guess But on a bike, it...
Weather guy says in a car, surrounded by metal, your 4 tires protect you, kind grounds out the car, I guess
But on a bike, it whacks you directly, you have nothing around you
FYI, rubber tires provide no protection against a lightning bolt (tens of thousands amps, tens of thousands degrees). You're "safe" (can still get injured) from lightning inside a metal, hard-top vehicle because it's a faraday cage. Same reason you're safe inside an airplane that gets struck.
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EngIceDave
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EngIceDave 6/10/2019 8:16am
6/10/2019 8:16am
Thank you.
byke
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byke 6/10/2019 9:39am
6/10/2019 9:39am
Cars aren't faraday cages, they just have a good amount of conductive material on the exterior, whereas a motorcyclist's body becomes the conductive material on the exterior. And the physical distance voltage can jump through air is relative to the voltage and environment(humidity). At lightning voltages, the electrical insulation from the tires does nothing. You're relatively safe in a car because the path of least resistance from the car exterior to the ground generally isn't through a person sitting inside. If you were getting in your car and were standing outside opening the door and the car were struck, that wouldn't be good. Same with an airplane, the exterior is very conductive and the path of least resistance isn't through the people inside. Basically, you never want to be in a situation where your body is the path of least resistance for electrical current.
Markee
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Markee 6/10/2019 10:04am
6/10/2019 10:04am
byke wrote:
Cars aren't faraday cages, they just have a good amount of conductive material on the exterior, whereas a motorcyclist's body becomes the conductive material on the...
Cars aren't faraday cages, they just have a good amount of conductive material on the exterior, whereas a motorcyclist's body becomes the conductive material on the exterior. And the physical distance voltage can jump through air is relative to the voltage and environment(humidity). At lightning voltages, the electrical insulation from the tires does nothing. You're relatively safe in a car because the path of least resistance from the car exterior to the ground generally isn't through a person sitting inside. If you were getting in your car and were standing outside opening the door and the car were struck, that wouldn't be good. Same with an airplane, the exterior is very conductive and the path of least resistance isn't through the people inside. Basically, you never want to be in a situation where your body is the path of least resistance for electrical current.
3 Days ago I was in the garage bleeding a front brake line. Lightning struck the tree in the front yard 30 yards away from me, it blew my arms off the bike and the 8mm wrench went flying. It was so violent I thought it hit my pickup 10 feet behind me. Since it was extremely humid, I'm guessing the static electricity surrounding the bolt got my ass.

The bark off the gum tree blew 40 yards away. The tree is split bad, but I hope I don't loose it. Shit was crazy though.
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agn5009
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agn5009 6/10/2019 10:16am
6/10/2019 10:16am
byke wrote:
Cars aren't faraday cages, they just have a good amount of conductive material on the exterior, whereas a motorcyclist's body becomes the conductive material on the...
Cars aren't faraday cages, they just have a good amount of conductive material on the exterior, whereas a motorcyclist's body becomes the conductive material on the exterior. And the physical distance voltage can jump through air is relative to the voltage and environment(humidity). At lightning voltages, the electrical insulation from the tires does nothing. You're relatively safe in a car because the path of least resistance from the car exterior to the ground generally isn't through a person sitting inside. If you were getting in your car and were standing outside opening the door and the car were struck, that wouldn't be good. Same with an airplane, the exterior is very conductive and the path of least resistance isn't through the people inside. Basically, you never want to be in a situation where your body is the path of least resistance for electrical current.
Markee wrote:
3 Days ago I was in the garage bleeding a front brake line. Lightning struck the tree in the front yard 30 yards away from me...
3 Days ago I was in the garage bleeding a front brake line. Lightning struck the tree in the front yard 30 yards away from me, it blew my arms off the bike and the 8mm wrench went flying. It was so violent I thought it hit my pickup 10 feet behind me. Since it was extremely humid, I'm guessing the static electricity surrounding the bolt got my ass.

The bark off the gum tree blew 40 yards away. The tree is split bad, but I hope I don't loose it. Shit was crazy though.
Did you acquire any super powers?
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byke
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byke 6/10/2019 10:16am
6/10/2019 10:16am
As long as you didn't get hurt, that honestly sounds effing awesome. Closest I've come was years ago in Houston in August. Lightning struck maybe a hundred feet away and I almost shit myself, but it was super rad. I love it when nature flexes her muscle, as long as it's not devastating like for the guy in the linked article.
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mx317
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mx317 6/10/2019 10:23am
6/10/2019 10:23am
My grandfather (born 1900) told me he was plowing a field with a mule when lighting struck. He woke up to find the mule dead, but he had only minor injuries from being knocked down.
Dcope17
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Dcope17 6/10/2019 10:28am
6/10/2019 10:28am
I always wondered how big a bolt of lightning was. I guessed about 8" diameter...
Well, sitting in the garage one evening watching the storm, bolt hit about 100 yards away. Light and sound were so close together, there was no delay picked up by my ears.
Bolt looked to be about 4' diameter. A lot bigger than I thought.
peltier626 6/10/2019 10:32am
6/10/2019 10:32am
byke wrote:
Cars aren't faraday cages, they just have a good amount of conductive material on the exterior, whereas a motorcyclist's body becomes the conductive material on the...
Cars aren't faraday cages, they just have a good amount of conductive material on the exterior, whereas a motorcyclist's body becomes the conductive material on the exterior. And the physical distance voltage can jump through air is relative to the voltage and environment(humidity). At lightning voltages, the electrical insulation from the tires does nothing. You're relatively safe in a car because the path of least resistance from the car exterior to the ground generally isn't through a person sitting inside. If you were getting in your car and were standing outside opening the door and the car were struck, that wouldn't be good. Same with an airplane, the exterior is very conductive and the path of least resistance isn't through the people inside. Basically, you never want to be in a situation where your body is the path of least resistance for electrical current.
Markee wrote:
3 Days ago I was in the garage bleeding a front brake line. Lightning struck the tree in the front yard 30 yards away from me...
3 Days ago I was in the garage bleeding a front brake line. Lightning struck the tree in the front yard 30 yards away from me, it blew my arms off the bike and the 8mm wrench went flying. It was so violent I thought it hit my pickup 10 feet behind me. Since it was extremely humid, I'm guessing the static electricity surrounding the bolt got my ass.

The bark off the gum tree blew 40 yards away. The tree is split bad, but I hope I don't loose it. Shit was crazy though.
agn5009 wrote:
Did you acquire any super powers?
Well played.
Falcon
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Falcon 6/10/2019 11:50am
6/10/2019 11:50am
Dcope17 wrote:
I always wondered how big a bolt of lightning was. I guessed about 8" diameter... Well, sitting in the garage one evening watching the storm, bolt...
I always wondered how big a bolt of lightning was. I guessed about 8" diameter...
Well, sitting in the garage one evening watching the storm, bolt hit about 100 yards away. Light and sound were so close together, there was no delay picked up by my ears.
Bolt looked to be about 4' diameter. A lot bigger than I thought.
That's a cool observation. When you think about what lightning is (electric potential,) it really is a tiny, narrow strip of energy. The bolt you see is superheated air that changes state to plasma when the bolt goes through it (this is what I understand, anyway.) When the electricity grounds and the energy equalizes, the plasma dissipates, leaving a small, lightning-bolt-shaped hole in the air. This hole collapses under atmospheric pressure and the clapping together of the air pocket causes thunder.
Someone who knows more about this, please correct and/or expand... thanks!
Infamous
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Infamous 6/10/2019 12:12pm
6/10/2019 12:12pm
Nature is so cool. I love thunderstorms and extreme weather, so long as they don't spool up into anything that hurts anyone. My Ambient Weather weatherstation is always on and tracking any weather in my local microclimate and pushing data up to Weather Underground. I think that makes me a weathernerd and I'm OK with that.
Sierra Ranger
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Sierra Ranger 6/10/2019 2:54pm
6/10/2019 2:54pm
I got hit in a car once and it felt like a direct hit. The car shut off it was all flashes of white light...I didn't feel any shock but it was close!
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toostroke
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toostroke 6/10/2019 5:20pm
6/10/2019 5:20pm
Markee wrote:
3 Days ago I was in the garage bleeding a front brake line. Lightning struck the tree in the front yard 30 yards away from me...
3 Days ago I was in the garage bleeding a front brake line. Lightning struck the tree in the front yard 30 yards away from me, it blew my arms off the bike and the 8mm wrench went flying. It was so violent I thought it hit my pickup 10 feet behind me. Since it was extremely humid, I'm guessing the static electricity surrounding the bolt got my ass.

The bark off the gum tree blew 40 yards away. The tree is split bad, but I hope I don't loose it. Shit was crazy though.
Keep the split tree for memories
SEEMEFIRST
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SEEMEFIRST 6/10/2019 5:32pm
6/10/2019 5:32pm
Markee wrote:
3 Days ago I was in the garage bleeding a front brake line. Lightning struck the tree in the front yard 30 yards away from me...
3 Days ago I was in the garage bleeding a front brake line. Lightning struck the tree in the front yard 30 yards away from me, it blew my arms off the bike and the 8mm wrench went flying. It was so violent I thought it hit my pickup 10 feet behind me. Since it was extremely humid, I'm guessing the static electricity surrounding the bolt got my ass.

The bark off the gum tree blew 40 yards away. The tree is split bad, but I hope I don't loose it. Shit was crazy though.
Unfortunately, that tree probably won't survive that much damage.
We lost a big maple in the backyard , and it wasn't split, just debarked.

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kkawboy14
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kkawboy14 6/11/2019 1:45am
6/11/2019 1:45am
byke wrote:
Cars aren't faraday cages, they just have a good amount of conductive material on the exterior, whereas a motorcyclist's body becomes the conductive material on the...
Cars aren't faraday cages, they just have a good amount of conductive material on the exterior, whereas a motorcyclist's body becomes the conductive material on the exterior. And the physical distance voltage can jump through air is relative to the voltage and environment(humidity). At lightning voltages, the electrical insulation from the tires does nothing. You're relatively safe in a car because the path of least resistance from the car exterior to the ground generally isn't through a person sitting inside. If you were getting in your car and were standing outside opening the door and the car were struck, that wouldn't be good. Same with an airplane, the exterior is very conductive and the path of least resistance isn't through the people inside. Basically, you never want to be in a situation where your body is the path of least resistance for electrical current.
Markee wrote:
3 Days ago I was in the garage bleeding a front brake line. Lightning struck the tree in the front yard 30 yards away from me...
3 Days ago I was in the garage bleeding a front brake line. Lightning struck the tree in the front yard 30 yards away from me, it blew my arms off the bike and the 8mm wrench went flying. It was so violent I thought it hit my pickup 10 feet behind me. Since it was extremely humid, I'm guessing the static electricity surrounding the bolt got my ass.

The bark off the gum tree blew 40 yards away. The tree is split bad, but I hope I don't loose it. Shit was crazy though.
That tree is dead now!

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