As a child I was on a sun porch on the
roof of our home and lighting struck the roof tins . . .I was wearing shoes with a rubber soles as a result the shoes were melted and I guess that is what saved my life

What causes thundersnow?

Heart disease causes over five hundred thousand deaths a year. To be concerned about being killed by something that causes less than one tenth of one-tenth of one percent of that is evidence that people are poor at assessing risk.

At most indoor pools, swimmers are not vacated when there's thunder. Indoor pools at NYS parks operate under a policy of vacating the pools at the first sound of thunder. The reason officials give for this is that they don't want to put the swimmers at risk. I can't find any instance of a swimmer in an indoor pool being struck by lightening. Their reasoning seems like superstition, not based on any empirical evidence. They are setting policy on speculation of an event with an exceptionally remote probability of occuring. (In fact, the people leave the building after being thrown out of the pool, which would increase the chances of being struck. Of course, anyone driving to/from the pool would have a much greater chance of being killed in a car accident en route on any given day.) What do you think?

Should computers be unplugged during a thunderstorm?

Thanks

I noticed for the first time this past winter, lighting in a blizzard. Is this becoming more common and why?

Does lightning pose a danger to boats at sea?

I noticed for the first time this past winter, lighting in a blizzard. Is this becoming more common and why?

Can you ask the guest about "thunder snow", or the combination of a thunderstorm and a snow storm?

This guest is pretty ignorant, Leonard asks him about voltage, and the guest starts blathering about "amperage". Above thousands of voltas, it doesn't take much current to kill you. Also postively or negatively "charged" lightning is misleading; Either end may emanate from a charge, but the lightning bolt itself is the flow of electricity between the crged end-points.

@ Liz from Manhattan

It sounds familiar to me. Are we dating ourselves?

Years ago, I was jumping off a wooden fence under tress and a utility pole in a storm. There was a 'zizt!' sound and a glowing orb above me near the electrical wires. While I was in the air lightening cracked, blowing out windows for a couple of miles around. I ran the fastest I ever ran to shelter. I think I was almost hit by lightning, but I'm not sure.

To the caller asking about the smell, I remember from biology class that one of the smells is ozone. Does that sound familiar to anyone else?

I always thought that smell was ozone.

Old newspaper accts of lightning strikes tell about an "photographic" image, say, of a tree or whatever was near the point of lightning flash/contact, which gets "burned" onto the skin of a nearby person. Explain?

Is water necessary for lightning, because water is a polarized molecule?

I thought the reason not to stand under a tree during a lightning storm was that trees don't conduct electricity well, so the lightning tends to jump to the nearest thing that conducts it better--our bodies.

My son has a cochlear implant (metal parts) in his head. He will be hiking in storm prone mtn range. Is he at special risk?

goofy question from childhood:
can you prevent being struck by lightening if you wear sneakers? I used to wear them to bed during lightning storms...

Len' -

20 years ago a golfer in Vail, Colorado was struck and killed while under a blue sky without a cloud. It was determined that the bolt came from a storm on the other side of a mountain that could not be seen.

I grew up near the Delaware River. My father would sometimes observe that a thunderstorm was "going up the river." Do thunderstorms occasionally follow the path of a river or was this just a random occurrence?

Why the weather is so similar in NYC and Buenos Aires, at the same time. I'm in BsAs now, and except the difference in season, the weather is the same.Lightning and thunder too!!!

what is the energy released by one lightning and is there a way to harness it?

What is ground lightning and is it more dangerous?

I would like to know whether the lightning could endanger me since I just had Bilateral total knee replacement with nickel)

When explaining barometric pressure, the guest used the term "cubic square foot". This is meaningless; it's either cubic foot, or square foot.

Thunder follows lightning as we perceive it from whatever distance, but are they simultaneous at the point of origin?

Is heat lightening a real thing? Or do we just tell kids that so that they don't get scared?

Check your program summary: "Plus, Please Explain is all about lightening and thunder!"

Correct spelling does make a good impression.