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Blitzortung – real time lightning strikes around the world

blitzortung.org

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Re: Blitzortung – real time lightning strikes around the world

#81

Post by telgareith »

zikzak wrote: post #77
telgareith wrote: post #66

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Lightning has reached down from 10,000ft to strike the ground, do not make the mistake that it cares about anything humanity has built. Even with a lightning rod/abatement system, its probabilities and 'preferred paths.' Plus, we really don't know all that much about lightning. Things like "ball lightning" ( https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ball_lightning ) seem insane/impossible, but theres too many reports from ever…

My father was born in 1930 and shared a bed with two siblings around ages 5-8. The bedroom was a small room at the top of the house and was on the wall where the electrical supply attached to the house from the street. During a bad storm one night, they heard a buzzing sound at the window by their bed and saw an intense light outside. The ball lightning then entered their room at the window (I have no idea how that w…

Nobody knows. It's why it's so interesting, and controversial.

"Two children and fire? Ball lightning... I've never heard matches called that before..."

But then somebody stops and thinks... How would they know about Ball lightning at that age, in that age.

Repeat that with thousands of accounts across cultures, continents, and at least 500 years. It's a real humdinger. Descriptions of Ball lightning are, afaik, more consistent than how people of different cultures handle psych problems.

I find it comforting to know there's so much more about the world to explore.

Re: Blitzortung – real time lightning strikes around the world

#82

Post by spdustin »

therein wrote: post #78
Spivak wrote: post #71

Earlier quoted context omitted.

But is there any risk to you being in the path of least resistance? All your pipes are connected (to the ground) so why would the electricity not take the readily available metal path?

I think they don't trust the grounding or the house doesn't have proper grounding. Either way should be easy to test. Run the showers and excite the paratoner.

I learned long ago not to trust corporate homebuilders.

Re: Blitzortung – real time lightning strikes around the world

#83

Post by pdntspa »

spdustin wrote: post #36

For my kids, I have a virtual light switch in HomeKit called "Shower Is Safe". It's pinned to the top of the Home app. I use the Home Assistant integration to fetch this data and run some calculations on the past few minutes of lightning activity. Since the API returns lightning strike time and bearing from a given location, I can (in combination with wind direction) determine if the lightning is approaching or reced…

Are you ensuring against any other black swan catastrophes or just this one?

Re: Blitzortung – real time lightning strikes around the world

#84

Post by KeplerBoy »

lxgr wrote: post #61
spdustin wrote: post #43

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Yes, especially in older homes or homes with poor grounding. Lightning can discharge through water supply lines[0]. There are even cases of toilets exploding due to lightning strikes[1]. (Google for more) Sure, it's exceedingly rare. But it's also exceedingly easy to avoid. I've taught my kids that some decisions are easier when defined as binary rules; judgment calls in cases like this just don't offer any tangible…

On the other hand, I wonder if you might be teaching a bad lesson about neglect of probability [1] here. The shower itself is probably orders of magnitude more dangerous by itself. I'm wondering because I am also unsure myself if I should be concerned about lightning when showering, or whether it's statistically speaking an absolute waste of time :) [1] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Neglect_of_probability

It really depends on your housing situation.

If you live in the lone, old house on a barren hilltop that gets struck by lightning on a weekly basis, I wouldn't take my chances with showering during the storm either.

Re: Blitzortung – real time lightning strikes around the world

#85

Post by readyplayernull »

purplerabbit wrote: post #67
iamthejuan wrote: post #58

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Smaller bathroom will resolve this to avoid total fall to the ground.

Sponge bath lying down in insulated closet is safest option

Even better, there is a way to avoid every risk and save water...

Re: Blitzortung – real time lightning strikes around the world

#86

Post by kzrdude »

Dibby053 wrote: post #55
spdustin wrote: post #36

For my kids, I have a virtual light switch in HomeKit called "Shower Is Safe". It's pinned to the top of the Home app. I use the Home Assistant integration to fetch this data and run some calculations on the past few minutes of lightning activity. Since the API returns lightning strike time and bearing from a given location, I can (in combination with wind direction) determine if the lightning is approaching or reced…

I don't want to frighten your family more, but shower NEVER is safe. Unlike lightning, slips and falls in the bathroom are quite common and sometimes result in death or lifelong injury.

I would guess the kind where you shower standing in a bathtub are much more risky than just a plain flat floor shower?

Re: Blitzortung – real time lightning strikes around the world

#88

Post by somat »

Wow! some of the distances from detectors to strike location are thousands of km. Now I am curious how it works. my guess is some sort of low frequency radio detector(long antenna?) and a good(gps disciplined?) timer. As the station integrator gets the reports it solves for what point could of generated this collection of time stamps.

Update: found the info page. It took me longer than it should have, but in my defense it was under the heading "cover your area"

https://www.blitzortung.org/en/cover_your_area.php

And here is a paper on the method used to integrate the reports.

https://wwlln.net/publications/dowden.toga.article.pdf

Re: Blitzortung – real time lightning strikes around the world

#90

Post by sadcherry »

spdustin wrote: post #72
lxgr wrote: post #61

Earlier quoted context omitted.

On the other hand, I wonder if you might be teaching a bad lesson about neglect of probability [1] here. The shower itself is probably orders of magnitude more dangerous by itself. I'm wondering because I am also unsure myself if I should be concerned about lightning when showering, or whether it's statistically speaking an absolute waste of time :) [1] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Neglect_of_probability

The difference in expected utility from showering (either during a lightning storm or not) is minimally affected by the choice to postpone it. That's why I'm content to call it a binary rule. The choice of showering/bathing at all has a different risk profile, yes, and also a different expected utility. Comparing the two is a false equivalence. Statistically speaking: our kids (and their parents) simply enjoy watchin…

Do you have any statistics about lightning-related injuries or deaths in showers?
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