This one had the fiercest lightning I've ever experienced. I felt like I was up in that storm as I watched it out my sunroom windows. No, that's not really right. I felt like it was down on the ground trying to absorb the earth. It was powerful!!
I had awakened a bit earlier hearing a pretty good downpour. But I knew that all our at-risk windows were closed (nothing vital would get soaked) so I went back to sleep. Then through closed eyes there was a HUGE bluewhite flash that literally lifted both me and Bruce from our mattress. The crack of thunder was simultaneous so it was a bluewhite flashcrash. Bruce said immediately, "We were hit." So we got out of bed to look for fire. Weirdly enough, we never lost power. ?
No fire anywhere but a strong smell of ozone near the bedroom. Big surprise. That's when we stood and just watched the storm envelop us. It was the most violent-feeling storm I've experienced. It was just furious! We got 3/4" rain in about an hour, so I thought maybe since it couldn't electrocute us it was trying to drown us. (Not really, but it did RAIN.)
This morning I went out to assess damage ... and to see if we really had got hit. I found a piece of the white trim from the back of the house on the ground about 8' from the house. And then saw the corner it came from.
There are shreds of that shingle on the stones, too. And I could NOT figure out how it had gotten under the eaves. We have a 28" overhang on the sides! Finally, when Bruce figured out it was the exit point, it made sense.
We can't find the entry point. We do have a metal roof, but for heaven's sake, we're a one-storey ranch surrounded by 80' trees. How did the lightning find the space directly over the house where there are no branches???
I told Bruce we were lucky that neither of us had been touching our brass bedstead!
