Close call (oh, ha ha -- I made a joke). Just wait for them to call you and then save the number in the memory.

It's pouring here right now. We had some lightning but it has passed.

We were coming across the bay towards Tampa Wednesday night. From the highest point of the bridge, it looked liked like all of downtown was back dropped in teal blue and as steady shower of very thick lightening bolts (and I don't mean our hockey team). I have never seen lightening light up the sky in a teal blue.

Scary!

I would truly love to see a teal blue sky. It would match some of the paint inside my home. That reminds me. Annie has asked that I post some pictures of my place since the repaint. I'm cooling off from weeding and edging out in muggy, hot weather, so guess I'll do that.

That's why they recommend unplugging all your electronic devices during a thunder storm.

Most electronic devices have what�s called EPROM I.C. devices to store pre-loaded software and as memories devices. EPROM stands for Electrically(or Erasable) Programmable Read Only Memory. These devices are sensitive to electrical abnormalities. Typical surge protectors are not effective. You need specialized expensive protector for lightning interferences.
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Some time ago, with a few friends I rented a 40 acre farm for some weekend fun. We grew vegetables and used the farm for picnics and camping. It was a beautiful piece of earth with a running stream and a magnificent nut tree in the middle of the field.

One long weekend, a few families gathered at the farm far a picnic. Weather was nice and we had a great BBQ picnic with our farm-grown vegetables. I left right after we ate lunch.

About 15 minutes on the road, out from nowhere, a huge hail/thunder/lightning materialized. Leaves were falling everywhere, golf ball-sized hail were feverishly pounding on the windshield. Brilliant bolts of flashes were dramatized against the blackened sky.

Suddenly something occurred to me. I turned 180 degrees around, floored on the gas and sped back to the farm.

Sure enough, all three families with their children were taking shelter under that big nut tree. Risking my own life, I dragged them thru the long muddy field to their cars.

During a thunder storm, inside a car is a very safe place. You are protected by the Faraday Cage Effect of electrical behavior.

dcarch

Not to cast any aspersions on the veracity or your recounting, of course....but I wonder how many reading this didn't know not to seek shelter under a tall tree in an open field during an electrical storm?
I have seen many many huge hail and thunderstorms develop....but there was always a cloud on the horizon and a noticeable darkening of the sky before the storm hit. There's a saying...those clouds look like they contain hail, best to seek cover and bring in the plants.

You surely were a hero to risk your very life and limb to save your friends who apparently never heard the basics of storm safety "never seek shelter under the tallest tree around, your car is the safest place in an electrical storm, and if you see a funnel cloud and you are in your car, drive at right angles to the path of the cloud, and if you can't outrun it, lie flat in a ditch until it passes."
Did they thank you for driving another 15 minutes in that horrible storm to save them.

Posted by lindac :
"Not to cast any aspersions on the veracity or your recounting, ------"

Obviously not.

"---of course....but I wonder how many reading this didn't know not to seek shelter under a tall tree in an open field during an electrical storm? ---"

Don't blame you for being surprised by city slickers who are borne and raised in apartment buildings all their life. I don't have the answer to your question. Perhaps you can ask the over 1,000 or so who are killed by lightning and untold thousands seriously injured every year.

"You surely were a hero to risk your very life and limb to save your friends who apparently never heard the basics of storm safety "never seek shelter under the tallest tree around, -----"

Just a minor correction, if you don't mind, "Never seek shelter under any tree, not just the tallest tree, "

"---- and if you see a funnel cloud and you are in your car, drive at right angles to the path of the cloud, and if you can't outrun it, lie flat in a ditch until it passes."

I am so ignorant. I thought that advice is not applicable anymore. I thought the current advice is:
" You should get out of your car as soon as possible when a tornado is occuring. Never try to out run a tornado". In any case, never drive at right angles to the path, drive right angles away from the path. The problem is, human vision cannot perceive distance from afar. You cannot tell if the tornado is come towards you or away from you. In addition, you cannot predict the path a tornado is going to take and a tornado can travel much faster then you can drive. There is also the likelihood of multiple funnels in the same area. Many people have been killed in cars while they were trying to outrun the tornado.

"----Did they thank you for driving another 15 minutes in that horrible storm to save them."

Yes they did. I have their firstborns from all three families.

dcarch

"I am so ignorant. I thought that advice is not applicable anymore. I thought the current advice is:
" You should get out of your car as soon as possible when a tornado is occuring. Never try to out run a tornado". In any case, never drive at right angles to the path, drive right angles away from the path. The problem is, human vision cannot perceive distance from afar. You cannot tell if the tornado is come towards you or away from you. In addition, you cannot predict the path a tornado is going to take and a tornado can travel much faster then you can drive. There is also the likelihood of multiple funnels in the same area. Many people have been killed in cars while they were trying to outrun the tornado."

The advice is to drive at right angles to the tornadoes path. Never try to out run a tornado. If you have ever seen a tornado dropping from a wall or hook cloud it's very obvious where the tornado is coming from. And if you have ever heard the sound, you know very well when it's within half a mile. And if you are so stupid not to notice the sky turning dark when you are a long way from shelter, you deserve to be carried to Oz to meet the Wizard.

The current advice is to seek shelter, not under the tallest tree, but if there are no other options, under a smaller grove or group of bushes away from the tallest tree.

I am again doing the yearly debate with myself about where in my home to flee to when the sirens sound. "They" say the south west corner of the lowest level, but that corner of the basement is full of stuff. next best is a room in the center of the lowest level, so I have a chair and my radio sitting in that room. a couple of years back I spent a few evenings down there. One night in particular, I watched live radar and saw the hook was a couple of miles away, the sirens were wailing, so I grabbed the dog and ran. When things calmed down, my son called from 300 miles away and asked if I was OK....he saw on the live radar that the funnel passed half a mile from me, but didn't touch down. Whew!