Thunder and Lightning Storm

OK group, I know no one should go out in a lightning storm, but sometime you are just stuck. This last Monday we were playing golf and could hear thunder and see lightning off in the distance, no rain. The course blew the horn to clear the course. Since there was no rain, most of us stayed on the course. I was told one of the guys behind us went in because he had a pacemaker. Made no sense to me. Guess he thought he might be a lightning rod because of his PM. I thought gee, I have my clubs, change in my packet, my cell phone a golf cart. There were many things for the lightning to hit that made any attraction by my PM seem small. Then, when I got up to work out this morning, again we had lightning but no rain. So I took the dog out before my workout. My wife suggested I not do that because of my PM. I just looked at her and said…right.

The question is, and I think I know the answer, do the PM and leads attract lightning in a storm? Am I going to get lit up just because I have a PM and the guy next to doesn’t?

Thanks, Jerry

4 Comments

lightening

by Tracey_E - 2014-05-07 01:05:55

The clubs and carts are much more likely to attract lightening, the pm is irrelevant.

BUT lightening can still strike you if it's not raining!!! That has nothing to do with it, it's distance. Count seconds between when you see lightening and hear thunder, divide it by 5 to figure out how many miles away it is. If it's less than 30 seconds, you are in strike range and need to get inside, pacemaker or not.

lightning

by bluebowtye - 2014-05-07 12:05:33

Funny you mention this! Just last week my husband and I were out walking in some light rain and all of a sudden there was a big bolt of lightning right near us. I made the comment that I wondered if my PM would attract lightning! I don't think it does, but I sure did think about it!

I have also heard that lightning strikes can be worse if it's not raining, but I don't know if that is true or not. I prefer to play it safe and not be out in lightning at all if I can help it - regardless of the PM!

~Sheila

Lightning

by donr - 2014-05-08 12:05:17

Let's talk lightning for a moment. It does NOT originate from the clouds, but rather from the ground, believe it or not.

Because of the air currents associated w/ a thunderstorm, a wicked electrical charge builds up on the ground & in the clouds. That charge distributes itself across the surface of every thing on the earth - including all the tall things around - like mountain tops, steel structured bldgs, steeples, lightning rods, TREES & PEOPLE. The sharper a point the object is, the greater the chance that it will be "Struck" by lightning.

What happens is that the electric field at the highest point of these objects becomes so strong that the charge starts bleed off & head toward a reconciliation w/ the charge in the clouds. Eventually (like in millionths of a second, a pretty darned fast eventually) the air completely breaks down at the point on that tall object & becomes a pretty decent conductor of electricity for millions of Amps of current, heating the air to incandescence instantly & causing the thunder you hear.

Now what does that all have to do w/ PM's? Nothing, really - because the electric charge that builds up on a human resides on the OUTSIDE of the body; the PM is not even involved in the transaction to the point where the charge starts flowing. The electric current through the body is so great that the resulting magnetic field created probably fries the PM & its leads. (More on that phenomena later.)

Where does the golf club come into play? Well, if you are holding one. a lot of charge will flow out onto the shaft, & since it is rather thin in the shaft, it makes a great lightning rod. Ever notice that lightning rods are sharpened to an extremely fine point? That establishes a very high concentration of strong electric field - that's right where the charge will bleed off into the atmosphere first, essentially "Guiding" the bolt down its shaft & extremely heavy copper cable to the ground, thus saving the building from damage. Your golf club becomes a lightning rod, thus getting you fried!

The Empire State Bldg in New York City is a humongous lightning rod - as is the Chrysler Building & the old World Trade Center. The Empire State Bldg gets "Struck" by lightning thousands of times per year. Tall, skinny & a thousand feet in the air - it's a natural place to bleed off accumulated charge from the ground to the clouds.

You are in a field or on a golf course? TREES do the same thing. They are tall & have lots of skinny, pointy little twigs on them - w/ thin leaves attached. Another of Mother Nature's lightning rods.

Suppose you are standing under a tree when lightning "Strikes." The air all around that tree becomes ionized & you are in its cloud of ions - the current flows through you, just like the trunk of a tree.

Now back to why I suggest that your PM just might fried - That bolt has literally millions of amperes of current flowing in it. It generates a magnetic field around it of unimaginable strength that can induce unimaginable currents in nearby conductors - like your PM & its leads.

I once witnessed a bolt strike near a house, but not touch it. The outside of the house was unscathed. Less than 5 min later, firetrucks rolled up to the house - the firehouse was less than a half mile away.. There was an electrical outlet box on the inside the wall at essentially the bolt's strike point. It induced so much current in the wires that it started a fire in the box that spread to the adjacent wall. The wires literally exploded.

Bottom line if you got this far - your PM will have no influence on "Attracting " lightning. Your body will do that job. Stay inside during electrical storms.

A final BTW: If you are out in the open during electrical storm activity & you feel your hair on the arms or top of your head start to tickle & feel like it wants to stick up strait from your body - guess what, friend - YOU are showing evidence of static electric charge building up on you & you are about to become a lightning rod. Be fast & flop down on the ground & hope that it is not too late.

Donr

Thanks

by gleesue - 2014-05-12 01:05:47

I've been out of town to a wedding at the Naval Academy. What an experience. Any way thanks for all the info. Donr, quite an explanation!

By the way I do try to be careful in storms.

Jerry

You know you're wired when...

You have a maintenance schedule just like your car.

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Since I got my pacemaker, I don't pass out anymore! That's a blessing in itself.