>From WeatherMatrix Member Thomas Giella
Hello,
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FROM: fmci{at}tampabay.rr.com
DATE: Sun, 19 Aug 2001 16:07:23 -0400
SUBJECT: Struck By Lightning Yesterday/ Saw Funnel Cloud Today
I post this keeping with the thread of lightning the past
week. The following happened to me in the Tampa Bay area on
Saturday 08/18/01.
I got caught in a horrendous, incredibly fierce electrical storm this
afternoon in Tampa and all the way home to Plant City. When I left an
employee
meeting at Radio Shack at district H.Q. at
3:00 pm I made a mad dash for the car at Waters and Armenia Avenue in
north
Tampa, as
lightning struck the Winn Dixie Sign on the east side of the parking
lot. On
the way home along Busch Blvd. between I-275 and U.S. 301 through Tampa
and
Temple Terrace, I saw lightning hit all seven cell towers along the
route.
As I was sitting at the red light at Busch Blvd. and 30th Street
lightning
struck
a power pole to my right and just behind me. I saw a secondary smaller
feeder bolt rise up from the hood of my car with a thump, could feel
heat,
static
electricity and smell ozone and burning wood. I could also hear weird
buzzing, bzapping noises and felt my body involuntarily pull slightly
back
and to the right, INCREDIBLE. As I passed Busch Gardens I saw lightning
strike one of the tall steel roller coasters, lightning once again
struck a
power pole just in front of me and to the right at Busch Blvd. and 40th
St
and
then a third time at Busch Blvd. and 78th St. and then a fourth time at
Bullard
Parkway and Harney Road and then a fifth time at U.S. 92W and Moores
Lake
Rd, near my house in west Plant City.
It was simply incredible to be so close to lightning so many times in
one
storm. As many times as this has happened to me in my lifetime,
sometimes I
wonder if this is how I will die. What was even more incredible was the
number of citizens walking around outside totally oblivious
to the danger. Last week a 44 year old Professor at USF was struck and
killed by lightning on campus and nearby a 29 year old man was struck
while
walking his dog, he survived.
Another weather incident occurred this Sunday afternoon on the SW side
of
Plant City. I
encountered a severe storm, actually two separate cells that had just
merged. As I looked to my west,
approximately 1/4 mile ahead while driving, I saw lightning strike one
of
our huge 200 foot steel city water tanks.
As best I could tell it struck the tower 6 times in rapid succession and
had
smaller feeder bolts rising
from other nearby pine trees and telephone poles. I also saw a funnel
cloud
that extended 25-50% to ground
and nickel sized hail. My funnel cloud report to NWS Tampa Bay Ruskin
triggered a weather warning. Below
is a Doppler radar image of the storm. If you look closely you will see
a
dot that represents the funnel cloud.
http://64.176.157.9/sub/radartornado.gif .
Take Care,
Thomas Giella
Plant City, FL
Email: fmci{at}tampabay.rr.com
Florida Meteorological & Climatic Institute:
http://64.176.157.9/sub/fmci.htm
KN4LF 160 Meter Amateur Radio Resources And More:
http://www.kn4lf.com
Giella Website Designs:
http://www.giellawoodsignandwebsitedesigns.com
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This archive was generated by hypermail 2b29 : Sat Sep 01 2001 - 13:05:11 EDT
