2:54 p.m. on October 5, 2008 (EDT)
trouthunter
Senior Member
Joined: May 22, 2008
Posts: 539
Lighning Strike Indicator Device
Since I live in the Southeast I have the opportunity to hike sections of the Appalachian Trail and am a member of the Whiteblaze Forum for AT enthusiasts.
One of the other forum members posted a link for a lightning strike indicator device called Strike Alert.
It may be junk, I haven't heard of it before, but thought I would pass it along.
http://www.strikealert.com/ProductInfo.htm
7:27 p.m. on October 5, 2008 (EDT)
f_klock
Moderator
Joined: Jan 5, 2006
Posts: 333
Re: Lighning Strike Indicator Device
When I was in Moab, almost every outfitter out there sold those things. I don't know if that means anything, but I suppose any warning is better than none. The lightning there is FRIGHTENING - true dry lightning. At 120+ degrees, it's too hot for the rain to reach the ground. It evaporates. Lightning gets there though, and there's a lot of iron in that rock! Jay Smith told us you can get struck by a bolt that hits the ground a mile away.
I've always been taught, and teach, that if you can hear lightning you can be struck by it.
10:27 p.m. on October 5, 2008 (EDT)
Bill S
OGBO
Joined: Mar 14, 2001
Posts: 2508
Re: Lighning Strike Indicator Device
There are several brands of "pocket" lightning detectors of varying capabilities and quality. The pocket ones are miniaturized versions of the "Stormscope" developed originally for small plane pilots as a sort of "poor man's weather radar" (misnomer, since it is a passive device and is NOT radar). Some versions indicate only that there are discharges with a crude indication of distance (far, mid, near), often with an alarm for discharges within a certain critical distance; while more sophisticated versions indicate direction and distance in miles/kilometers, holding the indicator for each discharge for a couple minutes so you can see the pattern.
There are several excellent pages on the NOAA website about lightning for the outdoorsman. You should be aware that lightning can strike several miles from the originating cloud (record confirmed was 59 kilometers). A few years ago, I was in Colorado for a meeting, when a father and son were struck while golfing near JeffCo airport, from an originating cloud 30 km away - father died, son recovered. That's the so-called "bolt from the blue" - rare, positive discharge, but it does happen.
