Hands up everyone who has never had any electronic equipment (computers, printers, routers etc) fried by lightning?
Okay, lucky you 😊
I have several times. Sure I use surge protector extension blocks and I have a UPS but somehow the lightning seems to sneak in. Down the phone cable last time.
So now I am always very wary when I feel there might be a storm heading our way.
But I earn my main living on the internet so switching off and unplugging every time the skies darken can be a bit disruptive. I want to minimise my downtime.
Recently I discovered lightningmaps.org that shows lightning strikes around the world in real time. I can now watch this, zoom in and see if the lightning is really coming my way.
Lightningmaps.org is powered by Blitzortung.org, a free community project. You can go direct to http://en.blitzortung.org/live_lightning_maps.php for the same information (and it has cool sound effects there as well) but I prefer the interface of Lightningmaps.org.
Blitzortung.org is described as a hobbyist lightning detection network. The data is gathered by Blitzortung network members using their home-built Blitzortung hardware. The members build (from kit parts) the detectors which monitor H-field (and E-field) emissions from lightning strikes. Data is sent to servers in Europe to correlate the Time-Of-Arrival at detectors v GPS-time to locate strikes.
From what I have seen in the UK the real time data is very reliable and accurate. I believe it is good for the USA as well.
Of course in the scale of what preppers prep for this is not big bananas. But lightning strikes happen throughout the year - pandemics, nuclear wars and economic collapse happen less frequently.
[Lightning image from pixabay - Creative Commons CC0; screencapture from lightningmaps.org]
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