Palm Sunday

 With a little assistance from Miss Molly Stewart:

KUSA News San Diego, Palm trees catch fire after being struck by lightning in San Pasqual Valley

Several palm trees located in San Pasqual Valley caught fire after multiple lightning strikes in the area early Tuesday morning, fire officials said.  According to Cal Fire, the fire was reported after 3 a.m. near Highland Valley Road. Officials said more than 100 trees were burned.

We heard from Mary that they had lightning and thunder in NorCal, too. Rain they're used to, lightning, not so much.

Linked at the Pirate's Cove in the weekly Sorta Blogless Sunday Pinup and links. The Wombat has Rule 5 Sunday: Redhead in the Snow up and garnering clicks at The Other McCain.

Palm Sunday

With assistance from Irina Voronina:

Times of India, Over 19 lakh palm trees to act as lightning arresters 

Amita Tarai, in her own words, has always been kind towards nature and is often looking for empty space, however small that may be, so that she can plant saplings and add to the area's greenery, thus fulfilling her wish of leaving behind a safe environment for her future generations. So it was of no surprise when the resident of Jharakata village (located near Chilika Lake in Puri district) chanced upon a news article on palm trees acting as lightning arresters and decided to take up its plantation to protect her fellow villagers.

What started out as a one-woman show in 2018 has now become a community project of sorts in her hamlet with many women joining her in planting saplings of palm trees and in seven years, around one lakh trees have been planted. "From Satapada in Puri district to Prayagi in Ganjam district, we plant trees wherever we find govt land with open space," 36-year-old Tarai, who is a member of govt's Mission Shakti programme, said.

Tarai and her group of women keep a record of the planted saplings to calculate their retention rate and more than 90% of the palm trees are standing tall even today. "Being the wife of a farmer, I know how vulnerable agricultural workers are to lightning strikes. The women in my village and I are determined to protect people from such strikes," Tarai added."

Due to their considerable height and high water content, palm trees effectively channel lightning bolts, helping safeguard both individuals and buildings from dangerous strikes. The strategic placement of such trees has shown success in minimising lightning-related casualties and property damage in susceptible regions," Odisha Environment Society's working president Jayakrushna Panigrahi said, adding that urbanisation has led to a decline in traditional palm tree cultivation in villages.

Earlier this year, the state forest, environment and climate change department announced plans to designate palm trees as a ‘scheduled' species, launching an intensive plantation drive aimed at reducing lightning-related fatalities across Odisha.

Interesting, in the US you're generally advised to stay out from under tall trees in a thunderstorm.

Linked at the Pirate's Cove in the weekly Sorta Blogless Sunday Pinup and links. The Wombat has Rule 5 Sunday: Add More Ginger As Required up and garnering clicks at The Other McCain.

Palm Sunday

 With Gabi Champ:

Nova News, Naples: Lightning strikes a palm tree in the garden of a house and a fire breaks out

Last night in San Sebastiano al Vesuvio the Carabinieri of the local station intervened in via Pompei 2 for a fire. Shortly before, lightning had struck a palm tree in the garden of the house.

The flames, which started from the plant, spread to the rest of the garden. Firefighters and Civil Protection personnel intervened and the fire was put out. There were no injuries.

I guess they've had bigger disasters in the neighborhood.

Linked at The Pirate's Cove in the weekly Sorta Blogless Sunday Pinup and links. The Wombat has Rule 5 Sunday: Loungewear garnering clicks at The Other McCain.

CBF Wind Turbine Hit by Lightning

10 WAVY,  Wind turbine struck by lightning at the Chesapeake Bay Foundation’s Brock Environmental Center. 

On Monday, a wind turbine at the Chesapeake Bay Foundation’s Brock Environmental Center was struck by lightning.

The turbine caught on fire, but was extinguished due to the rain from the storm. Luckily, the building itself didn’t sustain any damage.

CBF Brock Center General Manager Chris Gorri issued the following statement:

 “At CBF’s Brock Environmental Center, we interact with nature every day. Unfortunately, today lightning struck the west turbine at CBF’s Brock Environmental Center. We are grateful to the Virginia Beach Fire Department for responding so quickly to this incident. We are thankful nobody at the Brock Center was harmed during this storm, which reverberated throughout northern Virginia Beach. CBF’s Brock Environmental Center and Pleasure House Point Natural Area did not experience any damage beyond the wind turbine. Our priority is always the safety of our staff, students, and visitors. CBF staff and its contractors are assessing the turbines and the property is still open for the public to access.”

Who would have thought a giant windmill stuck way up in the air with a generator inside, and lines to carry away the power would be susceptible to a lightning strike? Apparently it's quite common:

• According to a German study, lightning strikes accounted for 80% of wind turbine insurance claims.
• During its first full year of operation, 85% of the down time experienced by one southwestern commercial wind farm was lightning-related. Total lightning-related damage exceeded $250,000.
• The German electric power company Energieerzeugungswerke Helgoland GmbH shut down and dismantled their Helgoland Island wind power plant after being denied insurance against further lightning losses. They had been in operation three years and suffered more than $540,000 (USD) in lightning-related damage.

Some Wednesday Wetness

YaHoo! Is it safe to shower during a thunderstorm?

Were you ever told that you should never to shower during a thunderstorm? Whether or not you’re still following that rule, you may be unaware of the reason behind the warning — or if it’s even legitimate. After all, unless your shower is outdoors, the consequences of sudsing up during a storm may seem fairly minimal, right?

As it turns out, experts say that you should avoid showering during a thunderstorm if possible — and there’s a good reason why. Here’s what you need to know about showering during a thunderstorm, and why you may want to hold off on bathing when you see those dark clouds rolling in.  What’s the issue with bathing during a thunderstorm?

It's not the thunder that's the issue during a storm — it's the lightning, which every thunderstorm produces. You may be thinking: But my shower is indoors and the lightning is outside. That may be true, but electricity can still travel indoors through your plumbing system.

True, but it's not my biggest fear.

The Wombat has Rule 5 Sunday: Sleeping In ready as usual at The one and only Other McCain.

Palm Sunday

With Franceska Fournier:

The Pioneer, Dehli, India, State stresses palm tree plantations to prevent lightning

With an aim to protect human lives from lightning strikes through traditional ways, Additional Chief Secretary Revenue & Disaster Management and Special Relief Commissioner (SRC) Satyabrata Sahu has asked the Forest and Agriculture Departments to take up massive palm tree plantations.

He gave the instruction while holding a high-level meeting with the senior officials of both departments.

Taking to twitter, the SRC said, “Inter-departmental meeting held by SRC for undertaking disaster-resilient projects under Disaster Mitigation Fund. @ForestDeptt & @krushibibhag asked to take up massive palm tree plantations in reserve forest areas and other vulnerable districts as a lightning mitigation measure.”

The SRC’s directive came in the wake of the death of at least 12 people on September 2 due to lightning strikes. As many as 281 lightning deaths were reported in 2021-22, most of them from rural areas.

Stating that environmentalists and weather experts have opined that rampant felling of palm trees has prevented protection against lightning, the meeting resolved for large-scale plantation of palm trees in rural areas.

Most of the lightning deaths and injuries occur when people are caught outdoors during the afternoon and evening. The victims are agriculture workers or day-labourers and the lone bread earners of their families.

According to experts, palm tree plantation was a traditional practice in villages, but it has now been discontinued due to urbanisation and development.

Lightning usually hits the tallest object first. The palm tree being the tallest among other trees in its surroundings works as a lightning conductor, decreasing deaths from the thunderbolt, said local weather experts.

The deaths from lightning strikes are now much higher than that of cyclones, floods and other disasters in the country.

 Linked at Pirate's Cove in the weekly Sorta Blogless Sunday Pinup and links. The Wombat has Rule 5 Monday: Farm Girls up for your digital delight.

Biden Refuses to Be Tested for Ear Piece

Matt Margolis at PJ Media, Biden Reportedly Refusing to Allow Search for Electronic Earpiece Before Debate

On Tuesday morning the Trump campaign requested a new rule for the first presidential debate: that a third party inspect both candidates for electronic devices or transmitters. President Trump had already consented to such an inspection, and the Biden campaign had reportedly agreed to this days ago, but, Ebony Bowden of the New York Post reported moments ago that they are now declining.

The Trump campaign has since confirmed this flip-flop.

Joe Biden’s handlers several days ago agreed to a pre-debate inspection for electronic earpieces but today abruptly reversed themselves & declined. Biden asked for multiple breaks during the debate, which President Trump doesn’t need, so we have rejected that request.

Statement: pic.twitter.com/yIXd0TVWgi

— Tim Murtaugh - Download the Trump 2020 app today! (@TimMurtaugh) September 29, 2020

“Joe Biden’s handlers several days ago agreed to a pre-debate inspection for electronic earpieces but today abruptly reversed themselves and declined,” Tim Murtaugh, communications director for the Trump campaign, said in a statement. “Biden’s handlers have asked for multiple breaks during the debate, which President Trump doesn’t need, so we have rejected that request. On top of the refusal to take a drug test, it seems pretty obvious that the Biden team is looking for any safety net they can find in the hours leading up to the debate.”

If I were the Trump campaign, I would provide the President with a small radio jammer, designed to produce a sharp squeal in the ear of anyone with a radio frequency. He can use it while Biden is getting his questions from Chris Wallace and his answers from his handlers.

True story. A few weeks ago, our garage door openers suddenly stopped responding correctly to the battery powered "clickers" we carry in the cars. Sometimes they worked, but at a very short range, sometimes they didn't. Georgia did a search today, and one of the common reports was that using LED lights in the openers interferes in the radio frequencies the openers use to receive commands from the "clickers." She had, indeed, put LED lights into the openers around the same time. She changed out the LEDs for some old incandescents we were hoarding, and indeed, it fixed them.

Fishing Rod vs. Lightning Strike

This came in my Facebook today. Somebody who knows somebody I know didn't get off the water fast enough:

Fortunately, no one was hurt.

CFLs: Goodbye and Good Riddance

Goodbye CFLs?

Remember when the CFL was presented as the Future of Lightbulbs? We'd all be thrilled to replace our archaic incandescents with high-tech CFLs. Just to hasten us along in the proper direction, the old bulbs were banned, lest people go all squirrelly and anti-social and prefer them to CFLs. Then came LED bulbs, which were A) better, and B) didn't require opening every window in the house and wearing gas masks if you dropped one.

Well:

GE just announced that it no longer make or sell compact fluorescent lamp (CFL) lightbulbs in the US. The company will wind down the manufacturing of CFL bulbs by the end of 2016, and it will begin to shift its focus on making the newest and most energy-efficient lightbulbs, LEDs.

We've started to convert to LEDs here and we're pretty happy with them. One of the big box hardware stores nearby had a really good sale on them a while ago, and we picked up a few at prices not too much above the prices you'd expect incandescent bulbs, back when you could get them. The come in a variety of "shades", and we found that the warm white was quite adequate; a "cool white" gave the same clinical light as a CFL. Great for an operating room, maybe, but not for a home.

That'll Get Your Attention

Another reason not to go boating in thunderstorms.