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"

I was nearly struck by lightning a few years ago while the sky overhead was clear. I was at a crowded garden center (Sun Nursery in Woodbine). There was a storm way off in the distance— far enough away that you were aware it was over there and were thinking it might start raining in an hour or so. From out of nowhere, lightning struck one of the big metal frames of the garden center. It was terrifying. So loud and so scary. Everyone screamed and ran inside. I learned my lesson— I go inside when thunder is in the distance.

It likely was closer then you realize. Probably 5 miles or so , if you could hear thunder. Thunder doesn't travel much more than that.

Anonymous wrote:I was there when it happened and it was incredibly scary and sad. It had been an absolutely beautiful day and then we began to get a few small rain drops. We packed up and had crossed the street to the bathhouse to wash off when suddenly everyone was rushing off the beach. Within minutes we had fire trucks, EMTs, etc.

This was in Kitty Hawk btw. Those leaving the beach only knew someone had been hit by lightning. Sky was clear. We got in our car and began to leave and further down by Nags Head it was dark, cloudy and raining.

This did come out of the blue. Aside from very light and fine rain drops there was no other indication of a storm coming. It was incredibly sad. Beach remained closed remainder of day and the storm ended up hitting NH and KH dumping a ton of rain with lots of lightning and strong thunderclaps

That's really awful. We've vacationed in OBX many years and have lots of storms blow up but I've never seen lightning strike the beach while it was still sunny out. In Florida, I've learned to get off the beach as soon as I sense a storm (rain drops, far off thunder)...because here that sort of thing is not exactly uncommon.

Just a week or so ago I was driving home and the road in front of me got hit by two lighting bolts - one right after the other. I was sure one was going to strike the car. i've never had an experience like that in OBX.

Anonymous wrote:

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.

Ten miles is NOTHING when it comes to storm cells. A large cumulonimbus incus can be 40 miles away and still look like it's on top of you. Ten miles is essentially 20 degrees up from the horizon. Easily visible.


I don't understand why people are arguing this. Any storm that is producing lightning is going to be visible on the horizon. Period. End of discussion.

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"

Are you a meteorologist?

I'm a pilot. I probably understand weather far better than whatever suitrack you watch on tv

Anonymous wrote:I can't with these GO Fund me things. They haven't gotten a single bill and yet they are gathering money. The kid went to Columbia and seemed to travel quite a bit so they aren't impoverished.

Yeah but people want to do something and don’t know what to do. And it’s something.

I was there when it happened and it was incredibly scary and sad. It had been an absolutely beautiful day and then we began to get a few small rain drops. We packed up and had crossed the street to the bathhouse to wash off when suddenly everyone was rushing off the beach. Within minutes we had fire trucks, EMTs, etc.

This was in Kitty Hawk btw. Those leaving the beach only knew someone had been hit by lightning. Sky was clear. We got in our car and began to leave and further down by Nags Head it was dark, cloudy and raining.

This did come out of the blue. Aside from very light and fine rain drops there was no other indication of a storm coming. It was incredibly sad. Beach remained closed remainder of day and the storm ended up hitting NH and KH dumping a ton of rain with lots of lightning and strong thunderclaps

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"

I live in Florida and you would be surprised how many times I've seen cloud to ground lightning on a pretty day. Yes, there is likely a storm approaching but that doesn't mean that it has to be right on top of you to have a lightning strike.

I'm actually really surprised that this happened in OBX under the conditions that are described. It seems more of a Florida thing, tbh.

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"

It can happen out of a clear blue sky though

I can't with these GO Fund me things. They haven't gotten a single bill and yet they are gathering money. The kid went to Columbia and seemed to travel quite a bit so they aren't impoverished.

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"

I was nearly struck by lightning a few years ago while the sky overhead was clear. I was at a crowded garden center (Sun Nursery in Woodbine). There was a storm way off in the distance— far enough away that you were aware it was over there and were thinking it might start raining in an hour or so. From out of nowhere, lightning struck one of the big metal frames of the garden center. It was terrifying. So loud and so scary. Everyone screamed and ran inside. I learned my lesson— I go inside when thunder is in the distance.

The article said odds of being struck are 1 in 15000. I thought it was much higher..like one in a million or something.

Anonymous wrote:

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.

I was in OBX on this day. There was a crazy storm that rolled in. The road to Duck was flooded that evening with a lot of lightening. We definitely saw it coming when we were on the beach that afternoon. The sky was clear overhead, but you could definitely see storm clouds on their way. but who knows. Either way the chance of getting struck by lightening even with a storm overhead is pretty slim. Poor kid.

what book is that/

Remember '6 Feet Under' the HBO miiniseries about the family that owned the funeral parlor? Each episode started with some random death/freak accident----like getting hit be 'blue ice' from an airplane while out in the backyard gardening. A lot of it was based on true events.

I just listened to NPR's special on a new book about survivors of 9/11 and guilt and how one decision made the difference between them living and dying that day but they had no idea. There was one guy that was having breakfast with co-workers at the Marriott and somebody gifted him a new tie. He told the group to go ahead and he woudl catch up wtih them at the meeting at Windows of the World in the Trade Center because he wanted to wear the new tie and needed to go up and change shirts. All of those co-workers died and he survived. There were so many stories of turning left vs turning right. Deciding to grab a bagel as a treat which they usually didn't do. I find this stuff fascinating.

Incredibly sad. It is one of those random, tragic events which could not be prevented. The meterologist said storm could not be seen ---and skies were clear. I have seen this with soccer practice. We have kids at 2 different fields not far away and one will get cancelled because of storm/lightning and a few miles away I will get confused about alert to pick up because the other field is a crystal clear day.

It's cliche, but none of us know what will happend when we wake up so live life to the fullest.