When lightning strikes 



If Ben Franklin had 

 known the risk he was 

 taking when he sent his 

 famous kite aloft in a 

 thunderstorm, we might 

 still be wondering about 

 lightning. 



The fact is, old Ben is 

 lucky he didn't get fried in 

 that experiment. 



And lucky for us, he 

 survived the shock to tell 

 us that lightning is, in 

 fact, electricity. In the 

 process, he also invented 

 the lightning rod. 



BY NANCY DAVIS 



enjamin Franklin's bravery in 

 'the face of a storm eludes 

 most of us. Nearly 250 years later, we're 

 still awestruck by the clap of thunder 

 and the flash of a jagged finger of 

 lightning against a black sky. 

 And with good reason. 

 Lightning kills. 



Nationwide as many as 100 to 125 

 people will die this year when they are 

 struck by lightning. That makes it the 

 second most deadly weather phenome- 

 non after flash floods, killing even more 

 people than hurricanes or tornadoes. 



In North Carolina, about four people 

 are killed and another 

 10 to 15 injured each 

 year by lightning, 

 making this the sec- 

 ond most dangerous 

 state for lightning. 

 Only Florida records 

 more lightning deaths. 



In a single flash, 

 lightning can kill peo- 

 ple and livestock, 

 smash a hole through 

 a boat hull, destroy 



As many as 16 million thunderstorms 

 form around the world each year. And 

 at any one time, about 2,000 of the 

 storms are brewing. 



In the United States, thunderstorms 

 occur most frequently in the South 

 Atlantic and Gulf states and in the South- 

 western mountains, says Dave Eichorn, 

 a forecaster with WRAL-TV in Raleigh. 



North Carolina cities regularly record 

 more than 40 days with thunderstorms 

 each year. Raleigh, for example, aver- 

 ages about 45 thunderstorms a year. 

 Wilmington records about 46 and Cape 

 Hatteras, 47. 



The brewing 

 of a 



thunderstorm 



property and create 

 fires that sweep 

 through millions of 

 acres of wilderness. 



One bolt of light- 

 ning can pack as 

 much as 10 million to 

 100 million volts of electricity. For com- 

 parison, an electrical outlet usually con- 

 tains about 120 volts. 



But lightning is also credited with 

 creating life on Earth some 3 billion 

 years ago. Scientists believe that elec- 

 trical charges passing through gases in 

 the atmosphere created amino acids 

 that formed the building blocks of pro- 

 teins, the basis for life. 



+ + + 



When hot and cold air masses mix, a thunderstorm forms. 

 The top of the cloud becomes positively charged, and the 

 bottom negatively charged. The Earth's surface is positively 

 charged. The air acts as an insulator until the voltage dif- 

 ference reaches 3 million volts per meter. Then lightning 

 occurs. 



Our prime months for thunderstorms 

 are March through October, with June 

 and July being the most active months, 

 says Dennis Decker, a meteorologist 

 with the National Weather Service at 

 the Raleigh-Durham International Airport. 



So far, recording thunderstorms has 

 proved easier than explaining them. 

 When the sky blackens, and a dark, 

 ominous cloud looms overhead, there's 



