A global analysis of lightning during hurricanes has bolstered observations that the worst winds come a day after the bolts strike.
Forecasters struggle to predict peak hurricane winds. So Colin Price of Tel Aviv University in Israel and colleagues studied all category 4 and 5 hurricanes between 2005 and 2007. Out of 58 hurricanes, 56 showed a significant correlation between lightning activity and wind speed, with peak winds arriving 30 hours after the lightning on average. Price believes the lightning may be caused by a change in wind patterns (Nature Geoscience, DOI: link).
Storms
Passengers on a Virgin Blue jet hit by lightning today say they were scared as the plane returned to Melbourne Airport after aborting a flight to Launceston.
Flight DJ1370 was 10 minutes into its journey this afternoon (AEDT) when the 737 was struck "multiple times'' by lightning, a Virgin spokeswoman said.
The captain of the aircraft, carrying 117 passengers and six crew, made an immediate decision to turn back to Melbourne.
Flight DJ1370 was 10 minutes into its journey this afternoon (AEDT) when the 737 was struck "multiple times'' by lightning, a Virgin spokeswoman said.
The captain of the aircraft, carrying 117 passengers and six crew, made an immediate decision to turn back to Melbourne.
Two hundred years ago this week, the warship HMS Warren Hastings was struck by a weird phenomenon: "Three distinct balls of fire" fell from the heavens, striking the ship and killing two crewmen, leaving behind "a nauseous, sulfurous smell," according to the Times of London.
Ball lightning has been the subject of much scientific scrutiny over the years. And, as with many powerful natural phenomena, the question arises: "Can we turn it into a weapon?" Peculiar as it may seem, that's exactly what some researchers are working on -- even though it hasn't even been properly replicated in the laboratory yet.
The exact cause and nature of ball lighting has yet to be determined; there may be several different types, confusing matters further. But generally it manifests as a grapefruit-sized sphere of light moving slowly through the air which may end by fizzling out or exploding.
Ball lightning has been the subject of much scientific scrutiny over the years. And, as with many powerful natural phenomena, the question arises: "Can we turn it into a weapon?" Peculiar as it may seem, that's exactly what some researchers are working on -- even though it hasn't even been properly replicated in the laboratory yet.
The exact cause and nature of ball lighting has yet to be determined; there may be several different types, confusing matters further. But generally it manifests as a grapefruit-sized sphere of light moving slowly through the air which may end by fizzling out or exploding.
© Reuters
Muhammad Ponari, who locals believe possesses healing powers, dips his "magic stone" into a bottle of water.
Muhammad Ponari, who locals believe possesses healing powers, dips his "magic stone" into a bottle of water.
The nine-year-old, who had been playing in the rain in his front yard, was hit by the thunderbolt but, to the astonishment of his young friends, he was unharmed.
All the more bizarre, according to an account by his village chief and his family, when he came to, he found a stone the size of an egg on his head, and was convinced he possessed healing powers.
A boy next door with a fever was his first patient. The stone was placed in a glass of water and the boy drank deeply. His fever vanished.
Then another neighbour approached him, a woman in her 30s who had suffered from a depressive condition for 15 years. She, too, was healed.
The miracles, large and small, kept coming, said Nila Retno, the local village chief.
© Unknown
Police said the man, an immigrant worker, was struck while working in fields in the buffer zone, about 25 kilometres west of Nicosia.
He was taken to hospital, but he was pronounced dead on arrival.
Lightning struck a Hawaiian Airlines plane flying from Honolulu to Hilo on Friday.
Hawaiian spokesman Keoni Wagner says no one was injured but the lightning caused some superficial damage to the plane.
Wagner says about 100 passengers were on board Flight 102 when the bolt hit. The plane landed at 6:28 a.m., about 15 minutes late.
Hawaiian spokesman Keoni Wagner says no one was injured but the lightning caused some superficial damage to the plane.
Wagner says about 100 passengers were on board Flight 102 when the bolt hit. The plane landed at 6:28 a.m., about 15 minutes late.
© Stock.xchng
Lightning may precede heavy bands of snow.
Lightning may precede heavy bands of snow.
The combination of snow, lightning and muted thunder occurs occasionally in storms across the temperate regions of North America, Europe and Asia, often near lakes or cyclones. Eyewitness accounts of these rare events, known as "thundersnows", date back thousands of years to ancient China, and suggest that lightning tends to strike in parts of the storm where the most snow is falling.
To verify such accounts, Patrick Market and Amy Becker at the University of Missouri, Columbia, studied 1000 lightning strikes in 24 thundersnows. They had previously shown that bigger snowstorms tend to produce more lightning, reinforcing the expectation that lightning would coincide with the heaviest bands of snow.
San Francisco, California - The most energetic particles in the electromagnetic spectrum could pose a danger to commercial airline passengers.
About every 3000 hours of flying time, a plane is hit with a bolt of lightning. Recently, spacecraft have found gamma rays can be created by thunder storms, and according to new research presented at the American Geophysical Union annual meeting this week, the rays could be intense enough to cause radiation sickness.
About every 3000 hours of flying time, a plane is hit with a bolt of lightning. Recently, spacecraft have found gamma rays can be created by thunder storms, and according to new research presented at the American Geophysical Union annual meeting this week, the rays could be intense enough to cause radiation sickness.
A woman claimed yesterday to have seen two balls of lightning in her house in West Wales.
Annie Dobson, from Kidwelly, said she was terrified to see the mysterious phenomena bouncing around her home.
Annie Dobson, from Kidwelly, said she was terrified to see the mysterious phenomena bouncing around her home.
© Associated Press/San Jose Police Department
In this picture released by the police department of San Jose, some of the 52 cows that were killed by lightning lie along a fence on a ranch in Valdez Chico village near San Jose, Uruguay, Wednesday, Oct. 22, 2008. The cows were killed when lightning hit the wire fence during a fierce storm, according to police.
In this picture released by the police department of San Jose, some of the 52 cows that were killed by lightning lie along a fence on a ranch in Valdez Chico village near San Jose, Uruguay, Wednesday, Oct. 22, 2008. The cows were killed when lightning hit the wire fence during a fierce storm, according to police.
A photograph released by the San Jose Police Department shows the black and brown cows lying dead in a long row.
