Lightning strike
Dave Fossett
window watching people rushing home from the station on their bikes with
umbrellas bravely raised, and wondered why they weren't worried about being
hit by lightning. It turns out that one person not far from here wasn't so
lucky, although it sounds like he was on an exposed river bank.
http://www.yomiuri.co.jp/national/news/20030903ic25.htm
--
Dave Fossett
Saitama, Japan
Louise Bremner
> Pretty impressive thunderstorm here this evening.
Agreed--I was trying to come home from Haneda through it. We landed
before it got there, but the monorail headed straight into it--it was
directly overhead at Hamamatsucho (simultaneous thunder and lightning,
in a continous stream), the Yamanote line was down and the Keihin line
was looking as if it'd follow (after each delay at each station, the
driver said he'd try for the next station, then see whether he could
proceed), and the Chuo line was late and packed far tighter than I'm
used to (but I did get a seat by being first in the rush when the train
finally arrived).
> I was looking out of the
> window watching people rushing home from the station on their bikes with
> umbrellas bravely raised, and wondered why they weren't worried about being
> hit by lightning. It turns out that one person not far from here wasn't so
> lucky, although it sounds like he was on an exposed river bank.
> http://www.yomiuri.co.jp/national/news/20030903ic25.htm
I think you've pointed out why--amidst tall buildings and utility poles,
there's not much danger of being struck by lightning (although I'd still
worry about being struck by debris if one of those tall things got hit).
________________________________________________________________________
Louise Bremner (log at gol dot com)
If you want a reply by e-mail, don't write to my Yahoo address!
Ken Yasumoto-Nicolson
The wife came out with some wonderful physics last time I talked to
her about lightning. I pointed out that if you count the time from the
flash to hearing the thunder, each 3 seconds is approximately 1
kilometre, so the storm at that time, although loud and bright, was
over 20 seconds or 6 km away, there was little to worry about. She
replied by telling me about Japanese thunder, where you get the rumble
first, then the lightning.
She always unplugs the telly - fair enough from a power surge point of
view - but shouldn't the aerial also be unplugged following the same
logic? She then said using a mobile inside the house is also dangerous
- it should be switched off too - as she'd heard that on a TV program
some time ago. I tried to work out the physics of that one - the only
possible answer I could think of was that in a car or other metal
object, you're protected by the Faraday Cage Effect, but somehow the
mobile phone breaks the effect, but then again a car has enough metal
parts in it to make a mobile phone insignificant, yet the Faraday Cage
still works.
Anyway, I realised a "Yes, dear" is the correct answer, not an indepth
analysis of the physics of lightning.
Ken
The 2-Belo
>Dave Fossett <re...@via.newsgroup> wrote:
>
>> Pretty impressive thunderstorm here this evening.
>
>Agreed--I was trying to come home from Haneda through it. We landed
>before it got there, but the monorail headed straight into it--it was
>directly overhead at Hamamatsucho (simultaneous thunder and lightning,
>in a continous stream), the Yamanote line was down and the Keihin line
>was looking as if it'd follow (after each delay at each station, the
>driver said he'd try for the next station, then see whether he could
>proceed), and the Chuo line was late and packed far tighter than I'm
>used to (but I did get a seat by being first in the rush when the train
>finally arrived).
>
>> I was looking out of the
>> window watching people rushing home from the station on their bikes with
>> umbrellas bravely raised, and wondered why they weren't worried about being
>> hit by lightning. It turns out that one person not far from here wasn't so
>> lucky, although it sounds like he was on an exposed river bank.
>> http://www.yomiuri.co.jp/national/news/20030903ic25.htm
>
>I think you've pointed out why--amidst tall buildings and utility poles,
>there's not much danger of being struck by lightning (although I'd still
>worry about being struck by debris if one of those tall things got hit).
Apparently this did happen: the Diet building, in one of those famous scenes
shown on political news articles with the rotunda under a barrage of lightning,
got hit square in the head by a bolt which broke off three pieces of its granite
facade.
Apparently God doesn't like Koizumi either.
--
The 2-Belo
the2belo[AT]msd[DOT]biglobe[DOT]ne[DOT]jp
news:alt.alien.vampire.flonk.flonk.flonk (mhm21x20)
news:alt.fan.karl-malden.nose (Meow.)
http://www.godhatesjanks.org/ (God Hates Janks!)
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Ernest Schaal
I didn't see the thunderstorm in Gifu, but the television shots on NHK
looked like a bad SF movie, especially the shots from Tokyo.
Dave Fossett
> She replied by telling me about Japanese thunder, where you get the rumble
> first, then the lightning.
Typical... Not only is Japanese snow "unique", but so is their lightning.
> Anyway, I realised a "Yes, dear" is the correct answer, not an indepth
> analysis of the physics of lightning.
Yep... it sounds like you are catching on fast. ;-)
Ken Yasumoto-Nicolson
<re...@via.newsgroup> wrote:
>Ken Yasumoto-Nicolson wrote:
>
>> She replied by telling me about Japanese thunder, where you get the rumble
>> first, then the lightning.
>
>Typical... Not only is Japanese snow "unique", but so is their lightning.
Go on, tell me what's unique about Japanese snow - does it form seven-
instead of six-sided shapes, or what?
Ken
Louise Bremner
> >> She replied by telling me about Japanese thunder, where you get the rumble
> >> first, then the lightning.
> >
> >Typical... Not only is Japanese snow "unique", but so is their lightning.
>
> Go on, tell me what's unique about Japanese snow - does it form seven-
> instead of six-sided shapes, or what?
I don't think it was ever specified just how it was unique; just that
foreign manufacturers of snow gear couldn't produce equipment suitable
for it.
The 2-Belo
>Ken Yasumoto-Nicolson <knic...@pobox.com> wrote:
>
>> >> She replied by telling me about Japanese thunder, where you get the rumble
>> >> first, then the lightning.
>> >
>> >Typical... Not only is Japanese snow "unique", but so is their lightning.
>>
>> Go on, tell me what's unique about Japanese snow - does it form seven-
>> instead of six-sided shapes, or what?
>
>I don't think it was ever specified just how it was unique; just that
>foreign manufacturers of snow gear couldn't produce equipment suitable
>for it.
It's supposedly slushier and less defined than the fluffy powder of higher and
drier European locales because of the increased humidity associated with being
an island situated along warmer Pacific currents and blah blah blah. Which, at
least for the Gifu and Nagano Alps, isn't too far off the mark: it's pretty
heavy, dense snow up there.
The 2-Belo
Apparently the one in Gifu was so localized it was the OVERLORD LIGHTNING
APOCALYPSE near my house, according to my wife, while in Nagoya it didn't even
get cloudy.
Brett Robson
>
> Louise Bremner and fj.life.in-japan is a baaaaaaaaaaad combination:
>
>>Ken Yasumoto-Nicolson <knic...@pobox.com> wrote:
>>
>>>>> She replied by telling me about Japanese thunder, where you get the rumble
>>> >> first, then the lightning.
>>> >
>>> >Typical... Not only is Japanese snow "unique", but so is their lightning.
>>>
>>> Go on, tell me what's unique about Japanese snow - does it form seven-
>>> instead of six-sided shapes, or what?
>>
>>I don't think it was ever specified just how it was unique; just that
>>foreign manufacturers of snow gear couldn't produce equipment suitable
>>for it.
>
>It's supposedly slushier and less defined than the fluffy powder of higher and
>drier European locales because of the increased humidity associated with being
>an island situated along warmer Pacific currents and blah blah blah. Which, at
>least for the Gifu and Nagano Alps, isn't too far off the mark: it's pretty
>heavy, dense snow up there.
>
Like Australian snow. The Europeans have a name for it "spring snow", except
they say it in a faggy French accent.
.
----
"One way for us to be be seen as the ugly American is to go around the world
saying we do it this way so should you"
- Gov George W Bush
Ryan Ginstrom
"The 2-Belo" <the2...@msd.biPOKPOKglobe.ne.jp> wrote in message
news:3f57d9e7$0$2942
> Apparently the one in Gifu was so localized it was the OVERLORD LIGHTNING
> APOCALYPSE near my house, according to my wife, while in Nagoya it didn't
even
> get cloudy.
One of the cool things about Okinawa weather is how you can get completely
drenched, while the sky is almost completely blue and a couple hundred
meters away it isn't raining at all.
--
Regards,
Ryan Ginstrom
The 2-Belo
>On Fri, 05 Sep 2003 09:32:11 +0900, The 2-Belo ...
>>
>> Louise Bremner and fj.life.in-japan is a baaaaaaaaaaad combination:
>>
>>>Ken Yasumoto-Nicolson <knic...@pobox.com> wrote:
>>>
>>>>>> She replied by telling me about Japanese thunder, where you get the rumble
>>>> >> first, then the lightning.
>>>> >
>>>> >Typical... Not only is Japanese snow "unique", but so is their lightning.
>>>>
>>>> Go on, tell me what's unique about Japanese snow - does it form seven-
>>>> instead of six-sided shapes, or what?
>>>
>>>I don't think it was ever specified just how it was unique; just that
>>>foreign manufacturers of snow gear couldn't produce equipment suitable
>>>for it.
>>
>>It's supposedly slushier and less defined than the fluffy powder of higher and
>>drier European locales because of the increased humidity associated with being
>>an island situated along warmer Pacific currents and blah blah blah. Which, at
>>least for the Gifu and Nagano Alps, isn't too far off the mark: it's pretty
>>heavy, dense snow up there.
>>
>
>Like Australian snow. The Europeans have a name for it "spring snow", except
>they say it in a faggy French accent.
"Ooh la la, la neige miserable dans le printemps"?
Ernest Schaal
the2...@msd.biPOKPOKglobe.ne.jp wrote on 9/5/03 9:33 AM:
> Ernest Schaal and fj.life.in-japan is a baaaaaaaaaaad combination:
>
>> "Dave Fossett" <re...@via.newsgroup> wrote in message
>> news:<hHm5b.177$bL...@news1.dion.ne.jp>...
>>> Pretty impressive thunderstorm here this evening. I was looking out of the
>>> window watching people rushing home from the station on their bikes with
>>> umbrellas bravely raised, and wondered why they weren't worried about being
>>> hit by lightning. It turns out that one person not far from here wasn't so
>>> lucky, although it sounds like he was on an exposed river bank.
>>> http://www.yomiuri.co.jp/national/news/20030903ic25.htm
>>
>> I didn't see the thunderstorm in Gifu, but the television shots on NHK
>> looked like a bad SF movie, especially the shots from Tokyo.
>
> Apparently the one in Gifu was so localized it was the OVERLORD LIGHTNING
> APOCALYPSE near my house, according to my wife, while in Nagoya it didn't even
> get cloudy.
We saw a minor lighting the day before, but none when it got to Tokyo and in
the news. I wouldn't be surprised if you are in the Southern part of Gifu,
since most of the lighting was near Aichi.
The 2-Belo
Nope, actually I'm oop noarth, almost near Takatomi-- oops, excuse me,
*Yamagata*. Damn these new merged towns.
Ernest Schaal
the2...@msd.biPOKPOKglobe.ne.jp wrote on 9/8/03 1:37 PM:
> Ernest Schaal and fj.life.in-japan is a baaaaaaaaaaad combination:
>
>> We saw a minor lighting the day before, but none when it got to Tokyo and in
>> the news. I wouldn't be surprised if you are in the Southern part of Gifu,
>> since most of the lighting was near Aichi.
>
> Nope, actually I'm oop noarth, almost near Takatomi-- oops, excuse me,
> *Yamagata*. Damn these new merged towns.
Maybe that is why we didn't see it. Our big windows face south, toward Mt.
Kinka and the Nagara River.
The 2-Belo
>in article 3f5c078d$0$2950$df06...@news.sexzilla.net, The 2-Belo at
>the2...@msd.biPOKPOKglobe.ne.jp wrote on 9/8/03 1:37 PM:
>
>> Ernest Schaal and fj.life.in-japan is a baaaaaaaaaaad combination:
>>
>>> We saw a minor lighting the day before, but none when it got to Tokyo and in
>>> the news. I wouldn't be surprised if you are in the Southern part of Gifu,
>>> since most of the lighting was near Aichi.
>>
>> Nope, actually I'm oop noarth, almost near Takatomi-- oops, excuse me,
>> *Yamagata*. Damn these new merged towns.
>
>Maybe that is why we didn't see it. Our big windows face south, toward Mt.
>Kinka and the Nagara River.
1) My wife may be mistaken, or just lying her ass off. Oh well.
2) You're apparently closer than I thought. I am in 打越 specifically. Near the
畜産センター. I can smell the pigshit from here.
Ernest Schaal
the2...@msd.biPOKPOKglobe.ne.jp wrote on 9/9/03 9:36 AM:
> Ernest Schaal and fj.life.in-japan is a baaaaaaaaaaad combination:
>
>> in article 3f5c078d$0$2950$df06...@news.sexzilla.net, The 2-Belo at
>> the2...@msd.biPOKPOKglobe.ne.jp wrote on 9/8/03 1:37 PM:
>>
>>> Ernest Schaal and fj.life.in-japan is a baaaaaaaaaaad combination:
>>>
>>>> We saw a minor lighting the day before, but none when it got to Tokyo and
>>>> in
>>>> the news. I wouldn't be surprised if you are in the Southern part of Gifu,
>>>> since most of the lighting was near Aichi.
>>>
>>> Nope, actually I'm oop noarth, almost near Takatomi-- oops, excuse me,
>>> *Yamagata*. Damn these new merged towns.
>>
>> Maybe that is why we didn't see it. Our big windows face south, toward Mt.
>> Kinka and the Nagara River.
>
> 1) My wife may be mistaken, or just lying her ass off. Oh well.
It might have been the day before Tokyo had them.
>
> 2) You're apparently closer than I thought. I am in 打越 specifically. Near
> the
> 畜産センター. I can smell the pigshit from here.
You are about forty-five minutes away from us, by bicycle.
The 2-Belo
[...]
>> 2) You're apparently closer than I thought. I am in 打越 specifically. Near
>> the 畜産センター. I can smell the pigshit from here.
>
>You are about forty-five minutes away from us, by bicycle.
3) I own a bicycle, but rarely use it because I'm a fat, lazy bastard. I'd
rather drive.
4) Did you happen to get caught up in the fiasco this morning? I was standing at
Gifu Station ready to board a train when lightning struck the power lines in
Inazawa, causing the entire 東海道線 to shut down. We all became refugees, some
16 bazillion of us, and we all had to trudge over to Shin-gifu and pack
ourselves onto one of those badly-designed Panorama trains so hard they had to
peel me off the walls. This after I had to wade through the CAR WASH OF
GOD!!!!?!`+!{`+!{`+"{`+ to get to the station in the first place. Mother Nature
is a bitch whoredog.
Brett Robson
>
>Ernest Schaal and fj.life.in-japan is a baaaaaaaaaaad combination:
>
>[...]
>
>>>2) You're apparently closer than I thought. I am in 打越 specifically.
>>>Near
>>
>>You are about forty-five minutes away from us, by bicycle.
>
>3) I own a bicycle, but rarely use it because I'm a fat, lazy bastard. I'd
>rather drive.
>
>4) Did you happen to get caught up in the fiasco this morning? I was standing at
>Gifu Station ready to board a train when lightning struck the power lines in
>Inazawa, causing the entire 東海道線 to shut down. We all became refugees,
>some
>16 bazillion of us, and we all had to trudge over to Shin-gifu and pack
>ourselves onto one of those badly-designed Panorama trains so hard they had to
>peel me off the walls.
cry me a river, let me introduce you to the Odakyu-sen one day. When I tell
Japanese people they give a sympathetic look.
Ernest Schaal
> Ernest Schaal and fj.life.in-japan is a baaaaaaaaaaad combination:
>
> [...]
>
> >> the ??????. I can smell the pigshit from here.
> >
> >You are about forty-five minutes away from us, by bicycle.
>
> 3) I own a bicycle, but rarely use it because I'm a fat, lazy bastard. I'd
> rather drive.
We bicycle for our health.
> 4) Did you happen to get caught up in the fiasco this morning?
> I was standing at Gifu Station ready to board a train when
> lightning struck the power lines in Inazawa, causing the entire
> ???? to shut down. We all became refugees, some
> 16 bazillion of us, and we all had to trudge over to Shin-gifu
> and pack ourselves onto one of those badly-designed Panorama
> trains so hard they had to peel me off the walls. This after I
> had to wade through the CAR WASH OF GOD!!!!?!`+!{`+!{`+"{`+ to
> get to the station in the first place. Mother Nature
> is a bitch whoredog.
Nope, missed that because I work next to Gifu Park (very short commute).
The 2-Belo
>The 2-Belo <the2...@msd.biPOKPOKglobe.ne.jp> wrote in message news:<3f5e73f6$0$2942$df06...@news.sexzilla.net>...
>> Ernest Schaal and fj.life.in-japan is a baaaaaaaaaaad combination:
>>
>> [...]
>>
>> >> 2) You're apparently closer than I thought. I am in ?? specifically. Near
>> >> the ??????. I can smell the pigshit from here.
>> >
>> >You are about forty-five minutes away from us, by bicycle.
>>
>> 3) I own a bicycle, but rarely use it because I'm a fat, lazy bastard. I'd
>> rather drive.
>
>We bicycle for our health.
So do we, but we usually go toward Motosu. Less cars.
>> 4) Did you happen to get caught up in the fiasco this morning?
>> I was standing at Gifu Station ready to board a train when
>> lightning struck the power lines in Inazawa, causing the entire
>> ???? to shut down. We all became refugees, some
>> 16 bazillion of us, and we all had to trudge over to Shin-gifu
>> and pack ourselves onto one of those badly-designed Panorama
>> trains so hard they had to peel me off the walls. This after I
>> had to wade through the CAR WASH OF GOD!!!!?!`+!{`+!{`+"{`+ to
>> get to the station in the first place. Mother Nature
>> is a bitch whoredog.
>
>Nope, missed that because I work next to Gifu Park (very short commute).
Trade ya.
Ernest Schaal
the2...@msd.biPOKPOKglobe.ne.jp wrote on 9/11/03 5:10 PM:
> Trade ya.
No, thank you.
The 2-Belo
>in article 3f602df3$0$2941$df06...@news.sexzilla.net, The 2-Belo at
Damn. Oh well. 'Twas worth a try. You would have gotten a pretty nice car out of
the deal.