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Kitchen Sink => No Moto Content => Topic started by: erkishhorde on June 03, 2009, 07:55:19 AM

Title: Thunderstorms
Post by: erkishhorde on June 03, 2009, 07:55:19 AM
Figures that all hell breaks loose the day that I'm taking my bike into service. I can't even remember the last time there was thunderstorm at my parent's place but last night it it was close enough that it shook the house. The thunder hasn't really stopped since before 3am this morning and it's nearly 8am now. It has moved farther away though.

Now I understand how kids can be afraid of thunder. I never understood it before because I had never been in a real thunderstorm but this stuff was crazy loud!
Title: Re: Thunderstorms
Post by: Grampa on June 03, 2009, 07:57:07 AM
if you go outside and shake a golfclub at the sky while cursing god.... it'll go away
Title: Re: Thunderstorms
Post by: NAKID on June 03, 2009, 08:01:19 AM
I love thunderstorms...
Title: Re: Thunderstorms
Post by: Grampa on June 03, 2009, 08:06:38 AM
Quote from: NAKID on June 03, 2009, 08:01:19 AM
I love thunderstorms...
ditto
Title: Re: Thunderstorms
Post by: swampduc on June 03, 2009, 08:20:57 AM
Our summer weather pattern has started, which means we get that stuff most afternoons.
I used to walk the puppy in t-storms all the time, so she's not afraid of them, she love 'em and wants to go out in the rain  [laugh]
Quote from: bobspapa on June 03, 2009, 07:57:07 AM
if you go outside and shake a golfclub at the sky while cursing god.... it'll go away
[laugh] Gonna try that today!
Title: Re: Thunderstorms
Post by: KnightofNi on June 03, 2009, 08:57:33 AM
Quote from: bobspapa on June 03, 2009, 08:06:38 AM
ditto

me 3.

i love watchign the water build up and go rushing past.
i also love watching drainage ditches and catch basins, esp during a downpour. my g/f thinks i have issues because of that.
Title: Re: Thunderstorms
Post by: swampduc on June 03, 2009, 09:12:58 AM
Quote from: KnightofNi on June 03, 2009, 08:57:33 AM
me 3.

i love watchign the water build up and go rushing past.
i also love watching drainage ditches and catch basins, esp during a downpour. my g/f thinks i have issues because of that.
Maybe it's the large boat you've been building, the long beard, the animals you've been gathering, etc.
Title: Re: Thunderstorms
Post by: Autostrada Pilot on June 03, 2009, 09:20:18 AM
Quote from: bobspapa on June 03, 2009, 07:57:07 AM
if you go outside and shake a golfclub at the sky while cursing god.... it'll go away


Just be sure that it's a 1-iron (cause no one can hit them.....not even God).
Title: Re: Thunderstorms
Post by: herm on June 03, 2009, 10:36:12 AM
Quote from: NAKID on June 03, 2009, 08:01:19 AM
I love thunderstorms...

me too..
unless i am stuck on top of a mountain somewhere with no shelter. then not so much
Title: Re: Thunderstorms
Post by: He Man on June 03, 2009, 11:04:42 AM
Quote from: herm on June 03, 2009, 10:36:12 AM
me too..
unless i am stuck on top of a mountain somewhere with no shelter. then not so much

[laugh]

i love thunderstorms when im not on my bike. I was asleep and the lightening was so loud it woke me up around 5am and continuted on till about 7 this morning. Windows wide open to let all that fresh rain smell in.
Title: Re: Thunderstorms
Post by: Speedbag on June 03, 2009, 04:01:53 PM
T-storms are awesome. And extremely cool, assuming it's not a precursor to losing your house.

I love going outside to watch the sky when one's brewing.
Title: Re: Thunderstorms
Post by: wbeck257 on June 03, 2009, 07:21:48 PM
my house was nearly destroyed by a tornado as a kid, scared of storms for a long time.


now i work at the power company, thunderstorms mean i got a good chance of making some money.
Title: Re: Thunderstorms
Post by: IZ on June 03, 2009, 07:45:13 PM
Quote from: bobspapa on June 03, 2009, 07:57:07 AM
if you go outside and shake a golfclub at the sky while cursing god.... it'll go away

[laugh] [laugh]


MAJOR t-storm here last night in the hill country.  Stayed awake for about an hour while the lightning was striking the golfcourse a few yards away.  Wasn't scared of lightning until I lived in Florida.   :-X
Title: Re: Thunderstorms
Post by: somegirl on June 03, 2009, 09:00:45 PM
I love them as long as I am indoors.  We maybe get 1 thunderstorm every 2-3 years here in NorCal though.
Title: Re: Thunderstorms
Post by: Big Troubled Bear on June 03, 2009, 11:49:55 PM
I love thunderstorms, we get them here in Africa almost every afternoon during high summer [thumbsup]
Title: Re: Thunderstorms
Post by: the_Journeyman on June 04, 2009, 04:20:05 AM
They are awesome.  With the exception of the one I got caught in on Devil's Court House on the Blue Ridge Parkway.  A lightening strike knocked me down & damaged my old Nikon N65.  It was very surreal.

JM
Title: Re: Thunderstorms
Post by: Bun-bun on June 04, 2009, 05:45:51 AM
We got a couple of pretty nice ones last night. Not an exceptional amount of lightning, but really heavy rain. What my friends dad called  "Like a cow pissin' on a flat rock." I've always liked lying in bed, listening to the sound of rain on the roof.
Title: Re: Thunderstorms
Post by: KnightofNi on June 04, 2009, 06:31:44 AM
Quote from: swampduc on June 03, 2009, 09:12:58 AM
Maybe it's the large boat you've been building, the long beard, the animals you've been gathering, etc.

haha, i'm far to lazy to build a boat. hell it's been almost a full year since i pulled the duc engine apart and it's stillnot back together.

Quote from: IZ on June 03, 2009, 07:45:13 PM
[laugh] [laugh]


MAJOR t-storm here last night in the hill country.  Stayed awake for about an hour while the lightning was striking the golfcourse a few yards away.  Wasn't scared of lightning until I lived in Florida.   :-X

when i was growing up in SE alabama we would get some wicked thunderstorms. i had forgotten how amazing they were until i went to see my mom in FL a couple of years ago.
Title: Re: Thunderstorms
Post by: angler on June 04, 2009, 08:26:55 AM
I've always loved thunderstorms and miss the very dramatic storms where I grew up in AZ. I have had some close calls (saguaro getting zapped while I stood about 30 feet from it, tree exploding road side in the Mtns while driving, parents house getting hit) and still love them. 

Now that I live in a land of basements, I get nervous - I hate water in my house.  Memorial day we got 4" overnight.  Drainage from my neighbors yard filled a basement window well and leaked into my finished basement.  I have a sump pump and floor drain, and usually the basement stays very dry.  Who knew two feet of water against a window would leak around the sill and weather strip. [laugh]    Who ever thought basements were a good idea?
Title: Re: Thunderstorms
Post by: Grampa on June 04, 2009, 08:32:59 AM
Quote from: angler on June 04, 2009, 08:26:55 AM
I've always loved thunderstorms and miss the very dramatic storms where I grew up in AZ. I have had some close calls (saguaro getting zapped while I stood about 30 feet from it, tree exploding road side in the Mtns while driving, parents house getting hit) and still love them. 

Now that I live in a land of basements, I get nervous - I hate water in my house.  Memorial day we got 4" overnight.  Drainage from my neighbors yard filled a basement window well and leaked into my finished basement.  I have a sump pump and floor drain, and usually the basement stays very dry.  Who knew two feet of water against a window would leak around the sill and weather strip. [laugh]    Who ever thought basements were a good idea?

its a good excuse to get a basement boat.
Title: Re: Thunderstorms
Post by: angler on June 04, 2009, 08:56:32 AM
Quote from: bobspapa on June 04, 2009, 08:32:59 AM
its a good excuse to get a basement boat.

Rrrrrright.  It is raining right now, so maybe I should move the canoe down there preemptively  I also thought about sealing the window up a bit better and keeping the window well filled with water.......and some fish.  Nice aquarium effect.........
Title: Re: Thunderstorms
Post by: KnightofNi on June 04, 2009, 09:01:54 AM
Quote from: angler on June 04, 2009, 08:56:32 AM
Rrrrrright.  It is raining right now, so maybe I should move the canoe down there preemptively  I also thought about sealing the window up a bit better and keeping the window well filled with water.......and some fish.  Nice aquarium effect.........

umm, indoor pool. duh!
Title: Re: Thunderstorms
Post by: DesmoLu on June 04, 2009, 09:47:44 AM
If you ever want to cause a thunderstorm to end all thunderstorms, as in end a friggin drought monsoon, take El Matador camping. It is guaranteed.
Title: Re: Thunderstorms
Post by: herm on June 04, 2009, 04:22:24 PM
Quote from: somegirl on June 03, 2009, 09:00:45 PM
I love them as long as I am indoors.  We maybe get 1 thunderstorm every 2-3 years here in NorCal though.

sorry, but i have to disagree. NORCAL gets hundreds of thunderstorms every summer. thats what starts all the fires north of redding.

granted, they are not real thunderstorms like you see on the colorado front range. but they do go boom and put down lighting....
Title: Re: Thunderstorms
Post by: IZ on June 04, 2009, 10:45:27 PM
Quote from: angler on June 04, 2009, 08:26:55 AM
I've always loved thunderstorms and miss the very dramatic storms where I grew up in AZ. I have had some close calls (saguaro getting zapped while I stood about 30 feet from it, tree exploding road side in the Mtns while driving, parents house getting hit) and still love them. 


Loved the thunderstorms at my dad's place on the west side of the Tucson mtns.  His house has a clear view of Kitt Peak Observatory.

(http://aftar.uaa.alaska.edu/images/small/kp_lightning_800.jpg)

(http://www.noao.edu/kpno/40th/stickers/lightning.gif)

Experienced lightning striking a saguaro in the back yard as well! 


Yes, KNI..FL has some amazing storms as well. The most lightning strikes in the country..FL. 
Title: Re: Thunderstorms
Post by: NAKID on June 05, 2009, 03:19:41 AM
My brother went to Navy boot camp in 1993 in Orlando, FL. He said there would be times they weren't allowed to walk down the street due to the lightning storms...
Title: Re: Thunderstorms
Post by: KnightofNi on June 05, 2009, 06:46:04 AM
IZ, where did you get that first pic? that looks awesome!  :o


i miss watchign the thunderheads roll in and seeign the lightning light up everything for miles.
Title: Re: Thunderstorms
Post by: NAKID on June 05, 2009, 07:58:38 AM
(http://www.wunderground.com/data/wximagenew/s/spandauguard/0.jpg)

AZ is known for it's cool ass thunderstorms. They have time lapse cameras they put on the surrounding mountains with high exposure times. It makes for some interesting pictures...
Title: Re: Thunderstorms
Post by: IZ on June 05, 2009, 12:46:36 PM
Kni..search for Kitt Peak Observatory.  It's a few miles from my dad's place in Tucson. He has a ton of pics like this but looking up at those mtns. There are some pics with red and orange skies behind the lightning. The pics don't even look real!
Title: Re: Thunderstorms
Post by: somegirl on June 05, 2009, 09:04:06 PM
Quote from: herm on June 04, 2009, 04:22:24 PM
sorry, but i have to disagree. NORCAL gets hundreds of thunderstorms every summer. thats what starts all the fires north of redding.

granted, they are not real thunderstorms like you see on the colorado front range. but they do go boom and put down lighting....

I should have been more specific and said SF Bay Area. Of course I am on the road 50% of the time so I guess you can double my estimate.
Title: Re: Thunderstorms
Post by: Nitewaif on June 06, 2009, 07:13:29 AM
I miss thunderstorms.  All that energy but it makes you feel so at peace.  I remember being a kid, probably 3 or 4, and my dad standing in the doorway looking out while my mother ran around freaking out and trying to make me hide in a bathtub.  I didn't want to, so I ran to dad who picked me up.  He pointed out what he was watching.  We lived up on a hill, down in a valley a few miles off, there was a trailer park.  We watched that thing fly to pieces as a tornado approached.  I'll never forget it- hell of a sight for a little kid. 

Tucson got great lightning shows when I lived there, but it never got storms with the intensity of the ones in the midwest and southeast. 
Title: Re: Thunderstorms
Post by: brimo on June 07, 2009, 01:35:31 AM
I remember sitting on a mountain top in Malaysia, watching and listening to a thunder storm below me.
Above me was nothing but blue sky, awesome.
Title: Re: Thunderstorms
Post by: DarkStaR on June 07, 2009, 11:48:44 AM
Quote from: the_Journeyman on June 04, 2009, 04:20:05 AM
... A lightening strike knocked me down & damaged my old Nikon N65.  It was very surreal.

So, You've been hit by lightning?  That is so bad ass!  I'd tell everybody!!!
Title: Re: Thunderstorms
Post by: Jobu on June 08, 2009, 12:59:26 AM
Quote from: Nitewaif on June 06, 2009, 07:13:29 AM
I miss thunderstorms.  All that energy but it makes you feel so at peace.  I remember being a kid, probably 3 or 4, and my dad standing in the doorway looking out while my mother ran around freaking out and trying to make me hide in a bathtub.  I didn't want to, so I ran to dad who picked me up.  He pointed out what he was watching.  We lived up on a hill, down in a valley a few miles off, there was a trailer park.  We watched that thing fly to pieces as a tornado approached.  I'll never forget it- hell of a sight for a little kid. 

Tucson got great lightning shows when I lived there, but it never got storms with the intensity of the ones in the midwest and southeast. 

Shit, living a a couple miles from a trailer park means your house is safe.  As the joke goes, what does a redneck divorce and a tornado have in common?
Title: Re: Thunderstorms
Post by: KnightofNi on June 08, 2009, 07:03:48 AM
Quote from: Jobu on June 08, 2009, 12:59:26 AM
Shit, living a a couple miles from a trailer park means your house is safe.  As the joke goes, what does a redneck divorce and a tornado have in common?

tall budwiser cans aplenty?
Title: Re: Thunderstorms
Post by: Jobu on June 09, 2009, 03:15:15 AM
Quote from: KnightofNi on June 08, 2009, 07:03:48 AM
tall budwiser cans aplenty?

:P

Nah, in the end, somebody is gonna lose a mobile home.
Title: Re: Thunderstorms
Post by: TiNi on June 09, 2009, 03:21:05 AM
i know it's the lightning i should be scared of but, i HaTe thunder...

when i was little, i used to count the seconds between the lightning and the thunder to calculate how far away it is .....

... i still do it  [laugh]
Title: Re: Thunderstorms
Post by: Jobu on June 09, 2009, 03:22:55 AM
Quote from: DuCaTiNi on June 09, 2009, 03:21:05 AM
i know it's the lightning i should be scared of but, i HaTe thunder...

when i was little, i used to count the seconds between the lightning and the thunder to calculate how far away it is .....

... i still do it  [laugh]

Don't forget to divide by five.  I do it all the time too, guess we're dorks.   [laugh]
Title: Re: Thunderstorms
Post by: TiNi on June 09, 2009, 03:25:19 AM
Quote from: Jobu on June 09, 2009, 03:22:55 AM
Don't forget to divide by five.  I do it all the time too, guess we're dorks.   [laugh]

divide by five  ???

i've been doing it wrong all these years  [laugh]

care to share your formula?  [laugh]
Title: Re: Thunderstorms
Post by: KnightofNi on June 09, 2009, 06:44:01 AM
i was listenign to the thunder this morn in the shower.

at times i could hear the rain over the water in the shower.


there was a bit of a storm rolling through.
lots of red on the weather map.
Title: Re: Thunderstorms
Post by: NAKID on June 09, 2009, 07:27:36 AM
We're having a nice little T-Storm here now!
Title: Re: Thunderstorms
Post by: He Man on June 09, 2009, 10:11:05 AM
Quote from: NAKID on June 09, 2009, 07:27:36 AM
We're having a nice little T-Storm here now!

+1 started around 4am, and ended around7 and its 1pm now nad it just started back up
Title: Re: Thunderstorms
Post by: the_Journeyman on June 09, 2009, 10:20:30 AM
Quote from: DarkStaR on June 07, 2009, 11:48:44 AM
So, You've been hit by lightning?  That is so bad ass!  I'd tell everybody!!!

Somewhat, not a direct hit as I had no burns, but was shaking to the point of it being a bit before I could see properly and able to feel like I could control my truck.  It was an odd feeling.

JM
Title: Re: Thunderstorms
Post by: Scottish on June 09, 2009, 12:51:25 PM
Quote from: KnightofNi on June 03, 2009, 08:57:33 AM
me 3.

i love watchign the water build up and go rushing past.
i also love watching drainage ditches and catch basins, esp during a downpour. my g/f thinks i have issues because of that.
[thumbsup] Awesomeness. Brings out the kid in ya. Truthfully I enjoy extreme weather, nothing bores me faster than 70* with light overcast and no wind. Actually scratch that, I dislike dry heat too, so AZ, NM sucks for me(shitballs I live in NM.. DAMMIT!).  ;D
Title: Re: Thunderstorms
Post by: somegirl on June 09, 2009, 05:25:03 PM
Quote from: DuCaTiNi on June 09, 2009, 03:25:19 AM
divide by five  ???

i've been doing it wrong all these years  [laugh]

care to share your formula?  [laugh]

Count the number of seconds between the lightning and thunder.

Divide by five and you have approximately the number of miles you are from the storm's center.
Title: Re: Thunderstorms
Post by: Jobu on June 09, 2009, 07:08:04 PM
Quote from: somegirl on June 09, 2009, 05:25:03 PM
Count the number of seconds between the lightning and thunder.

Divide by five and you have approximately the number of miles you are from the storm's center.

Not the storm center, from where the lightning hit.  We'll get this right eventually.

The formula is derived from the speed of sound, which is about 740 MPH at STP, but because you don't get many thunderstorms at 0 degrees C, it is more like 760 to 800 MPH at ground level.  So, that means that the shockwave created by the lightning travels on average about .2 miles per second.  So, when you see the flash, every second before the sound is .2 miles, so if you count to 5, then that's a mile which is why you divide by five.
Title: Re: Thunderstorms
Post by: somegirl on June 09, 2009, 09:52:43 PM
Quote from: Jobu on June 09, 2009, 07:08:04 PM
Not the storm center, from where the lightning hit.  We'll get this right eventually.

Yes, thanks for the correction. [thumbsup]
Title: Re: Thunderstorms
Post by: Jobu on June 10, 2009, 12:30:47 AM
Quote from: somegirl on June 09, 2009, 09:52:43 PM
Yes, thanks for the correction. [thumbsup]

No problem. 

I wasn't trying to be an ass.  Don't take it that way.  Though I am.   :P
Title: Re: Thunderstorms
Post by: somegirl on June 10, 2009, 11:27:02 AM
Quote from: Jobu on June 10, 2009, 12:30:47 AM
I wasn't trying to be an ass.  Don't take it that way.  Though I am.   :P

[laugh] [laugh] no worries [beer]
Title: Re: Thunderstorms
Post by: Popeye the Sailor on June 10, 2009, 12:07:14 PM
Quote from: somegirl on June 09, 2009, 09:52:43 PM
Yes, thanks for the correction. [thumbsup]

You never say that to me  >:(
Title: Re: Thunderstorms
Post by: angler on June 10, 2009, 12:22:00 PM
Quote from: NAKID on June 05, 2009, 07:58:38 AM
(http://www.wunderground.com/data/wximagenew/s/spandauguard/0.jpg)

AZ is known for it's cool ass thunderstorms. They have time lapse cameras they put on the surrounding mountains with high exposure times. It makes for some interesting pictures...

Man I miss that ish.......maybe I should just move back.....
Title: Re: Thunderstorms
Post by: Le Pirate on June 10, 2009, 12:43:30 PM
I live in the north Texas plains, so we get the fast moving, quite violent, thunderstorms. I love em'.....unless I'm at work and my car gets hailed on. We seem to get a small (size wise, not severity) storm every other afternoon...or every afternoon the last week or so.


I've ridden my bike to work 3 times so far this summer...and rode home in pea size hail twice.  [laugh] it hurts.
Title: Re: Thunderstorms
Post by: KnightofNi on June 10, 2009, 01:16:34 PM
Quote from: Le Pirate on June 10, 2009, 12:43:30 PM
I live in the north Texas plains, so we get the fast moving, quite violent, thunderstorms. I love em'.....unless I'm at work and my car gets hailed on. We seem to get a small (size wise, not severity) storm every other afternoon...or every afternoon the last week or so.


I've ridden my bike to work 3 times so far this summer...and rode home in pea size hail twice.  [laugh] it hurts.

get a thicker jacket with better armor and a chest plate
Title: Re: Thunderstorms
Post by: Desmostro on June 10, 2009, 01:28:37 PM
Quote from: angler on June 10, 2009, 12:22:00 PM
Man I miss that ish.......maybe I should just move back.....

+1 though I'd just like to visit a lot.

My house got hit by lightning when I was growing up a week before we actually moved in. It blew the huge brick chimney off which crashed through the roof and burned off the 3rd floor. The blast was so hot it killed the cacti close to the house and fried the birds in the trees in their nests. It was so loud it broke windows up and down the street. I found pieces of the chimney .5 mile away. That's a lot of energy. I'm glad no one was home.

I still love a good lightning storm though.
Title: Re: Thunderstorms
Post by: Jobu on June 10, 2009, 04:53:48 PM
Quote from: Desmostro on June 10, 2009, 01:28:37 PM
+1 though I'd just like to visit a lot.

My house got hit by lightning when I was growing up a week before we actually moved in. It blew the huge brick chimney off which crashed through the roof and burned off the 3rd floor. The blast was so hot it killed the cacti close to the house and fried the birds in the trees in their nests. It was so loud it broke windows up and down the street. I found pieces of the chimney .5 mile away. That's a lot of energy. I'm glad no one was home.

I still love a good lightning storm though.

Was your house located in Baghdad or Afghanistan?   [laugh]

I've seen exploded trees from lightning but that is just ridiculous.  However, I also recently heard that when the ground holds the negative charge (positive charge is brought to the earth from the cloud), the lightning strike has much more amperage and therefore more energy.  These usually occur as a "bolt from the blue" and come from the top of the anvil cloud, so maybe one of these is what actually hit your house.
Title: Re: Thunderstorms
Post by: IZ on June 10, 2009, 06:31:37 PM
Quote from: Jobu on June 10, 2009, 04:53:48 PM
Was your house located in Baghdad or Afghanistan?   [laugh]


Saw a special once that said Southern AZ and Afganistan/Iraq/Iran had similar storm patterns and at the top for lightning strikes.
Title: Re: Thunderstorms
Post by: IZ on June 11, 2009, 08:52:40 PM
HUGE storm here tonight in and around Austin area!!  Lightning, funnel clouds and 4" hail!  Made sure the car was pulled in since we had one of the worse hail storms ever a few months back!

Of course..a ton of bikes started arriving today for bike week.   :-X