Picture of the day - June 22, 2006

Aftermath Of A Lightning Strike

Lightning is one of the most feared forces in nature, and with good reason. The human body is an electrical conductor that can (and sometimes does) serve as a conduit for the almost instantaneous discharge of millions of volts of static electricity into the ground - what we know as a lightning strike. Today's picture is an excellent illustration of just how powerful a lightning strike really is. This poor locust tree was virtually destroyed when lightning ripped it apart as the intense electric current heated the wood molecules and caused them to rapidly expand - splitting the hard locust wood into several pieces. What makes this lightning strike so interesting is the location of the tree. It wasn't high on a hill or on an open plain as one might expect. Instead, it stood in an area that is actually lower than the road that my brother Glen was driving on when he spotted it! There are tree-covered hills nearby that rise much higher than the top of this tree would have been, so it's interesting that the lightning chose to take the path it took. The only thing that really distinguishes this tree from the others in the area is the fact that it stood alone with no other trees near it. Lightning always seeks the path of least resistance so that it can most efficiently discharge the massive amount of stored energy to ground, and apparently this unlucky locust was it. Picture Of The Day Homepage | Submit a photo More Interesting Articles