Scared of Thunder and Lightning!

[Bigboyuk]

At night, I just hide under the duvet now, but like you Bigboy, all electrics have to be turned off. I've actually got worse as I have got older.
I go nuts over wasps too.

I just shake if it's really over head, that's
why I count now the number of seconds from flash to rumble try it, it may offer you some comfort for eg if I count 5 seconds then it doesn't bother me atall now as it's not over head but 25 miles away Cheers

[Carnation]

Thanks for the tip x

[Bigboyuk]

Thanks for the tip x

You are welcome X

[Tessar]

Hey there. Been a while since I was on the forum but simply had to comment here. Ok, talk about facing all your fears? Last Friday I had a general anaesthetic, a hysteroscopy & then when I was recovering there was a massive thunderstorm!
Seriously folks, I honestly had so little fear about any of it, I'm amazed.
And why did I have no fear?
For the procedure, I knew it was necessary. I decided I would not think about it. No worrying at all. That's what I did. As a result I was pretty calm on the day.
The lack of thunder fear I'm certain is that I'd not long come out of my anaesthetic so was really chilled.
So there you go. Truly positive experience that I felt I needed to share.

[Bigboyuk]

Hey there. Been a while since I was on the forum but simply had to comment here. Ok, talk about facing all your fears? Last Friday I had a general anaesthetic, a hysteroscopy & then when I was recovering there was a massive thunderstorm!
Seriously folks, I honestly had so little fear about any of it, I'm amazed.
And why did I have no fear?
For the procedure, I knew it was necessary. I decided I would not think about it. No worrying at all. That's what I did. As a result I was pretty calm on the day.
The lack of thunder fear I'm certain is that I'd not long come out of my anaesthetic so was really chilled.
So there you go. Truly positive experience that I felt I needed to share.

While I am pleased for you, you were chilled because you had not long come out of the anaesthetic the real test is when the next massive storm hits. Cheers

[Tessar]

While I am pleased for you, you were chilled because you had not long come out of the anaesthetic the real test is when the next massive storm hits. Cheers

Yeah that's what I felt you, Bigboyuk, and of course yesterday there were widespread storms in the country..... must admit, I needed the loo in the night and typically while I was there..... I noticed a series flashes from the window behind me. I immediately thought arrrgggghhhhhhh & was anxious but not 100% certain it was lightning.
I scooted back to bed and told my partner I thought I'd seen lightning.... of course they were dismissive.
Then a bit later came the first rumble.
I insisted it was thunder.... my partner was like ... no it didn't sound right, it was a plane but of course rumble no.2 came & well, it was then obviously a storm.

One big difference in my behaviour now is, if I have company (& sometimes on my own if I feel comfortable with it) I will go to the window and watch. I am ok with that because whilst it's scary, I also now find it exhilarating.

The bit I know will always get me, is if I'm focused elsewhere & there's a sudden flash or clap of thunder. It's the uncertainty that's difficult to cope with but them even an unexpected loud noise will always make me jump.

At least I can be happy in the knowledge that I deal with storms far better than I used to.

:-)

[Magic]

Hiya Tess. hope you are on the mend now. Thought your had left.
Take Care .. .as for the thunder and lightening, I just sit at the bottom of the stairs, xx

[Tessar]

Hiya Tess. hope you are on the mend now. Thought your had left.
Take Care .. .as for the thunder and lightening, I just sit at the bottom of the stairs, xx

Hey Magic :-)
I drop in every now & then..... but have been very busy getting on with stuff. A lot of family stuff has gone on the last year which has taken up much of my time.
Hope u r doing ok?
We haven't had any more thunder since my last post so that's good :-)

[Pamplemousse]

I just shake if it's really over head, that's
why I count now the number of seconds from flash to rumble try it, it may offer you some comfort for eg if I count 5 seconds then it doesn't bother me atall now as it's not over head but 25 miles away Cheers

Errrr.... at 5 seconds, it's one mile away.

Speed of sound ~ 330 metres/second

One mile = 1600 metres.

1600/330 ~ 5.

I was terrified of storms as a child: my great-aunt would turn mirrors and cover cutlery when there was one - but I slowly grew out of it until when I was eighteen and some friends and I went train-spotting in my car (I'd just passed my test). It was a lovely hot summer day, but the weather turned and a storm was getting closer and closer - we were up on a bridge over the railway line. A mate and I decided to go shelter in the car when, as we were walking towards it, a lightning strike hit a telephone pole a few metres away. We both hit the deck in what felt like slow motion...

That scared me for a long time, and eventually I started to get better until one windy January night, I was sitting with my wife when all of a sudden the room lit up blue and there was the most deafening BANG! It was an overhead strike; I was already cowering and my wife got up to look out of the front door as I thought it was a gas explosion. As she looked out of the door, a strike came down somewhere, blinding her temporarily. When I got her sat back down, I noticed our telephone answering machine's tape was running very slowly, with flashing lights and general strange behaviour (like something out of the X-Files, which was contemporary at the time). It had been damaged by EMP - I fixed it and got it mostly working again (a lot of dead transistors) but the pulse had fried the memory chip so it never stored phone numbers again.

I can cope with a storm about a mile or two away now, and I still have fond memories of watching one rage from the top floor of the Peachtree Plaza in Atlanta - the tallest hotel in the city!

[Bigboyuk]

Errrr.... at 5 seconds, it's one mile away.

Speed of sound ~ 330 metres/second

One mile = 1600 metres.

1600/330 ~ 5.

I was terrified of storms as a child: my great-aunt would turn mirrors and cover cutlery when there was one - but I slowly grew out of it until when I was eighteen and some friends and I went train-spotting in my car (I'd just passed my test). It was a lovely hot summer day, but the weather turned and a storm was getting closer and closer - we were up on a bridge over the railway line. A mate and I decided to go shelter in the car when, as we were walking towards it, a lightning strike hit a telephone pole a few metres away. We both hit the deck in what felt like slow motion...

That scared me for a long time, and eventually I started to get better until one windy January night, I was sitting with my wife when all of a sudden the room lit up blue and there was the most deafening BANG! It was an overhead strike; I was already cowering and my wife got up to look out of the front door as I thought it was a gas explosion. As she looked out of the door, a strike came down somewhere, blinding her temporarily. When I got her sat back down, I noticed our telephone answering machine's tape was running very slowly, with flashing lights and general strange behaviour (like something out of the X-Files, which was contemporary at the time). It had been damaged by EMP - I fixed it and got it mostly working again (a lot of dead transistors) but the pulse had fried the memory chip so it never stored phone numbers again.

I can cope with a storm about a mile or two away now, and I still have fond memories of watching one rage from the top floor of the Peachtree Plaza in Atlanta - the tallest hotel in the city!

Ahh Ok Got it wrong way round That's some story And no wonder it affected you. And yes always safe in a car even if it's struck more than once, as it acts as faraday's cage
Your second story and in January sounds really freaky for a start you don't associate Thunder and Lightning in January! It's one powerful phenomenon that should be treated with respect. If only it could be harnessed that could really help with our energy needs in the future, but It's a huge undertaking if it can be done atall. And yes iam better within my self too but if it's over head I go to pieces. Thanks for you stories Cheers