Sad story—lightning strike out of clear blue sky

[Anonymous]

College student from NoVa stuck by lightning in OBX.

“At the time he was struck, Summerill was playing Frisbee in the ocean with two friends. The lightning “came out of the clear blue sky and struck him in the lower back,” the GoFundMe page says.”

https://www.pilotonline.com/news/north-carolina/vp-nw-man-dies-lightning-strike-outer-banks-20190912-eratqa2d6bhvlinw7gv3rqoesy-story.html[flash]

[Anonymous]

It happens, but it's so rare you shouldn't worry about it. Drive carefully instead, cars are much more likely to kill you.

[Anonymous]

What a tragedy. Life can truly be so random at times. My heart goes out to his family and friends - especially the ones that witnessed this and did everything in their power to help him.

[Anonymous]

Lightning does NOT happen "out of the blue". There had to have been a storm nearby, it just wasn't directly overhead.

Lightning isn't magic. The conditions that create it are well understood. It only happens in proximity to storms, because those moving air masses are what is necessary to create the static charge.

It doesn't just happen "out of the blue"

[Anonymous]

Why is there a Go Fund Me? Didn't the kid have health insurance?

[Anonymous]

The strong storms scares me these days. There were lightning and thunder about 5pm yesterday around here and I though something big was brewing. You know those crazy storms that we've been having with strong thunder and lightning.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Lightning does NOT happen "out of the blue". There had to have been a storm nearby, it just wasn't directly overhead.

Lightning isn't magic. The conditions that create it are well understood. It only happens in proximity to storms, because those moving air masses are what is necessary to create the static charge.

It doesn't just happen "out of the blue"

The article says a strong storm moved into the area within an hour of the strike, but reads as if sky was blue at the time.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Lightning does NOT happen "out of the blue". There had to have been a storm nearby, it just wasn't directly overhead.

Lightning isn't magic. The conditions that create it are well understood. It only happens in proximity to storms, because those moving air masses are what is necessary to create the static charge.

It doesn't just happen "out of the blue"

While you are technically accurate, lightning can travel horizontally 10 miles so you wouldn't necessarily know that there was a storm nearby.

There was a recent article about a similar death: https://www.washingtonpost.com/weather/2019/06/03/jonathans-story-ten-years-after-tragic-bolt-blue-two-simple-rules-that-could-save-your-life/

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Why is there a Go Fund Me? Didn't the kid have health insurance?

Are you from Canada? You seem unfamiliar with hospital billing practices in the US. It is highly likely that there will be significant medical bills, even if there he had health insurance.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Lightning does NOT happen "out of the blue". There had to have been a storm nearby, it just wasn't directly overhead.

Lightning isn't magic. The conditions that create it are well understood. It only happens in proximity to storms, because those moving air masses are what is necessary to create the static charge.

It doesn't just happen "out of the blue"

The article says a strong storm moved into the area within an hour of the strike, but reads as if sky was blue at the time.

It may have indeed been blue directly overhead. But there was absolutely a storm cloud in close proximity, visible somewhere around them. Otherwise no lightning.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Lightning does NOT happen "out of the blue". There had to have been a storm nearby, it just wasn't directly overhead.

Lightning isn't magic. The conditions that create it are well understood. It only happens in proximity to storms, because those moving air masses are what is necessary to create the static charge.

It doesn't just happen "out of the blue"

Are you a meteorologist?

[Anonymous]

Sounds like a good old fashioned smiting.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Lightning does NOT happen "out of the blue". There had to have been a storm nearby, it just wasn't directly overhead.

Lightning isn't magic. The conditions that create it are well understood. It only happens in proximity to storms, because those moving air masses are what is necessary to create the static charge.

It doesn't just happen "out of the blue"

The article says a strong storm moved into the area within an hour of the strike, but reads as if sky was blue at the time.

It may have indeed been blue directly overhead. But there was absolutely a storm cloud in close proximity, visible somewhere around them. Otherwise no lightning.

They'd be unlikely to see a storm cloud that was 10 miles out at the time.

[Anonymous]

Haley Baldwin donated.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Lightning does NOT happen "out of the blue". There had to have been a storm nearby, it just wasn't directly overhead.

Lightning isn't magic. The conditions that create it are well understood. It only happens in proximity to storms, because those moving air masses are what is necessary to create the static charge.

It doesn't just happen "out of the blue"

“Out of the blue” is a shortened version of the colloquialism “Like a bolt from the clear blue sky,” which describes a situation in which lightening strikes with no visible storm. This metaphor for an unforeseeable catastrophe has been around for centuries because that is LITERALLY A THING THAT HAPPENS. But it’s cool that you think you are somehow better able to predict lightening strikes than all the generations of humanity before you.