Diver killed by lightning in FL

[letsgodiving]

Living and diving in Florida, I am all too aware of how hard it is to predict storms.

 

[kuma1720]

I was actually diving around the same time in the Florida Keys and had to cut my dive early because we had a lightning storm develop. This storm was slowly coming our way, but were able to make it to shore before we got caught.
The whole while I we were dismissing the dangers of the storm. Then at home I saw the newscast and it really struck home!!
What a tragedy.

 

[vladimir]

lightening: a procedure performed by a hairdresser.
lightning: causes thunder.

 

[DandyDon]

lightening: a procedure performed by a hairdresser.
lightning: causes thunder.

Yeah, my bad. Firefox and Google speil chik both liked the word... :silly:

 

[matjo1]

Deerfield beach is missleading. It happened on the pompano balls, at a site called the nursery. I was underwater with 8 students, 3 balls over when it happened... scary...

 

[lamont]

There as been insufficient research on the effects of lightening on the ocean to draw any real conclusions. The thought is that when lightning hits water it dissipates in all directions.

Its actually basic physics. Saltwater is a big pool of conductors (ions). If lightning hits the surface of the water those ions will move to counteract the electrical field created by the lightning hit. The more conductive the thing it hits the more the conductors in the object move and the shallower the skin depth will be that the electrical field propagates into the object. As the ions move they convert the electrical field energy into heat. Of course if lightning hits something like a wire there won't be enough conductors to dissipate it all as heat as it travels down the wire and you'll get a nasty jolt if you're on the other end of it. But if you're it has to travel through the water to you there's a lot of ions to move in between you and the lightning even through a 10 foot half-sphere of water above you. Still, deeper is better. There will be exponentially less of a shock at 20 feet than at 10 feet.

 

[underwasser bolt]

lightening: a procedure performed by a hairdresser.
lightning: causes thunder.

So what? I knew what he was talking about. The rules of grammar are arbitrary, which is why by preference they change. They are not laws of physics.:mooner:

Too many spell check police on this board.

 

[underwasser bolt]

Its actually basic physics. Saltwater is a big pool of conductors (ions). If lightning hits the surface of the water those ions will move to counteract the electrical field created by the lightning hit. The more conductive the thing it hits the more the conductors in the object move and the shallower the skin depth will be that the electrical field propagates into the object. As the ions move they convert the electrical field energy into heat. Of course if lightning hits something like a wire there won't be enough conductors to dissipate it all as heat as it travels down the wire and you'll get a nasty jolt if you're on the other end of it. But if you're it has to travel through the water to you there's a lot of ions to move in between you and the lightning even through a 10 foot half-sphere of water above you. Still, deeper is better. There will be exponentially less of a shock at 20 feet than at 10 feet.

probably not expentially, but at least 1/r^2 as the diameter of the sphere increases. Electrical engery of that strength in water should produce not only steam, but perhaps even ionization of the steam to the point of having a neat visual effect, probably in the blue visual range. The gasses may even be created under water, which would be real neat to see under water, from a distance that is. The empirical evidence of no large amount of dead fish is a huge clue. The physics involved here must result in an incredible release of energy in a short distance. As indicated, the amorphous nature of ions in water may contribute to this effect.

 

[vladimir]

So what? I knew what he was talking about.

Well done!!

 

[DandyDon]

Oh, I probly give Vlad a hard time so often - no biggie if he catches me in a goof. But thanks guys...