Weather Imagery

Lightning is one of those things that captures everyones attention because there’s just the right mix of fear and curiosity which draws everyone to the show. To go along with lightning’s beauty, there are a lots of interesting facts some people might not have known. So here is a huge list of some interesting facts about lightning:

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The last time a commercial plane crashed in the United States due to a lightning strike was about 40 years ago. On December 8, 1962 lighting hit a Pan American Boeing 707 in a holding pattern over Elkton, Md. The lightning created a spark that ignited jet fuel vapor in a holding tank, triggering an explosion that killed all 81 aboard. Ironically, the FAA estimates that each commercial airliner will be hit by lightning once a year (some will get hit more than once, some won’t get hit at all). And in some cases, the airplane itself actually triggers the lightning. So why doesn’t lightning cause commercial jet liners to crash? There are three main reasons: highly conductive outer shell, surge/shielding/grounding protectors on electronic equipment and jet fuel which produces much less explosive vapor.

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Thunderstorms are very powerful events. They can produce grape fruit sized hail, terrifying lightning, strong winds, torrential rains and tornadoes. But another less noticed product of a thunderstorm is the updraft … unless you happen to be caught in one while flying a paraglider.

That’s exactly what happened to a German woman who was flying a paraglider in Tamworth, Australia while training for the World Championship. Caught in a powerful updraft, Ewa Wisnierska found out first hand how terrifying and painful a thunderstorm can be because for nearly 60 minutes she was unconscious and at the mercy of mother nature.

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Most of the new hot water heaters are pretty efficient and don’t need any additional insulation. However some of the older tanks, or less efficient newer tanks, could benefit from some added insulation. They way to tell if you need more insulation is to simply touch the side of your hot water tank. If it is warm to the touch, then some of the heat is escaping which is a sign the tank isn’t that efficient.

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Environmentalists would like you to believe that the energy efficient Compact Fluorescent Light bulbs (CLF’s) are the next best thing to sliced bread because they use roughly 75% less electricity compared to the normal incandescent bulbs we are all familiar with. Each household using CFL’s will draw less power from the electrical grid thus lessening the amount of CO2 being released into the atmosphere by coal-fired power plants. As a result, we will save the world from certain global warming apocalyptic doom. Wal-Mart, the largest retail store in the world, has embraced the CFL and has dedicated itself to selling 100,000,000 of the new CFL’s this year alone.

At first glance, one could easily jump on board thinking they too can make a difference and save our environment. But if you ask yourself a couple questions, you quickly realize that these new bulbs, although more efficient, pose a much greater risk to the environment than the energy hungry incandescent bulbs.

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Wind chill is a measure of how cold people and animals will feel based on heat loss. In cold and windy weather conditions, the skin loses heat more quickly than if the wind were not blowing. The colder it is and the faster the wind, the more cold one feels. As a result, the wind can make it feel much colder than it really is. This is called wind chill or apparent temperature.

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