Possible lightning strike knocks out traffic lights
JANESVILLE--What might have been a lightning strike, just after noon today, knocked out traffic lights at at least four major intersections in Rock County.
"It's not been confirmed,'' said a dispatcher at the Rock County Communications Center.
As of 12:13 p.m., callers had reported traffic lights out at these intersections: County G (Beloit Avenue) and Highway 11, highways 51 and 11, Center Avenue and State Street and Grant and Joliet streets.
“Those are the ones we know for sure,’’ the dispatcher said.
Supposedly, "one lightning strike took out all the four-ways," the dispatcher said. "Somebody in the area heard a huge lightning strike."
These traffic lights are maintained by the state Department of Transportation, which already has been notified, the dispatcher said.
Janesville Police Department officers and Rock County Sheriff's Office deputies have been called to the intersections to control traffic.
Jul 23, 2009 at 9:40 p.m.
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You can hear lightning. As it travels TO it's target it crackles. Lightning struck a pole 10 feet from me. First I got that hair standing on end feeling, then I heard crackling, then saw the flash of light, then went deaf for a bit from the loud bam.
Jul 23, 2009 at 6:59 p.m.
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If you hear a loud noise in the sky,
It isn't thunder, it's Elvis beating the crap out of Michael Jackson for marrying his daughter. And that's my story and I'm sticking to it!!!!
Jul 23, 2009 at 4:44 p.m.
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The whiners are here
Jul 23, 2009 at 4:07 p.m.
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what a waste of time
Jul 23, 2009 at 2:50 p.m.
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Get lives
Jul 23, 2009 at 2:38 p.m.
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Maybe Lightning STRIKING something but not the lightning it self.
Jul 23, 2009 at 2:36 p.m.
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Oh my!! - You CAN NOT hear a lightning strike!! :)
Jul 23, 2009 at 2:34 p.m.
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No problem MrScott!! I'm all for learning new things!!! Thanks!
Jul 23, 2009 at 2:33 p.m.
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Actually here is another just for fun:
http://weathereye.kgan.com/cadet/lightni...
'Lightning causes thunder because a strike of lightning is incredibly hot. A typical bolt of lightning can immediately heat the air to between 15,000 to 60,000 degrees Fahrenheit. That's hotter than the surface of the sun!
A lightning strike can heat the air in a fraction of a second. When air is heated that quickly, it expands violently and then contracts, like an explosion that happens in the blink of an eye. It's that explosion of air that creates sound waves, which we hear and call thunder. ;
Jul 23, 2009 at 2:32 p.m.
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No prob, I know I'm just being picky anyway :)
Jul 23, 2009 at 2:31 p.m.
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Sorry, your last comment didn't post until after I posted the link!
Jul 23, 2009 at 2:30 p.m.
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Actually what you are hearing is lightning. Or perhaps the semi-nifrious tubloudious butt snoides.
Jul 23, 2009 at 2:30 p.m.
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'Thunder -- the cracking or rumbling you often hear -- is caused by thermal expansion and contraction. Lightning bolts can get far hotter than the sun's surface -- up to 20,000 ° Celsius. That heats the air, causing it to expand, and starting a shock wave that departs the area as sound waves -- thunder.'
http://whyfiles.org/137lightning/index.h...
Jul 23, 2009 at 2:30 p.m.
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Let me rephrase that, thunder is a shockwave from rapidly heated air caused by the electrical discharge of lightning. You're not hearing the lightning itself. Yes, I'm being picky, but I take the opportunity to dispel common weather misconceptions when possible :)
Jul 23, 2009 at 2:28 p.m.
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Yes, with your long explanation you've said it~~you hear the lightning strike and object and you can hear the thunder which is the noise from the lightning. Therefore, either way you hear the lightning.
Jul 23, 2009 at 2:27 p.m.
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bully - hearing thunder is not hearing lightning. Thunder is is a shockwave produced by rapidly heated air and has nothing to do with the electrical discharge of lightning.
Jul 23, 2009 at 2:25 p.m.
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You're hearing a physical object reacting to the heat and energy involved with the discharge of thousands of volts of electricity with a temp exceeding 50,000 degrees. The air around the lightning also ionizes, and the area on the ground previous to the lightning strike becomes highly charged. If you're ever standing outdoors previous to a nearby lightning strike, its likely you're going to hear crackling on objects which is the positive ions rapidly charging. When the difference in negative charge at the cloud base and the positively charge ground is large enough, the energy discharges into the lightning. Lightning is the discharge of energy manifest in a bright flash.
Jul 23, 2009 at 2:16 p.m.
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And if you want to be really techinical you can hear lightning~~that's what thunder is!!! LOL But, really, lightning striking something does make a very definite sound!
Jul 23, 2009 at 2:11 p.m.
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You can hear the crack of lightning when it hits something. We've had more than one tree hit on our property and we've heard it everytime!!
Jul 23, 2009 at 2:08 p.m.
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I would imagine if you are in an office and it happens 10 miles away they are all the same but if you were 50 feet away it would sound huge.
Jul 23, 2009 at 1:32 p.m.
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When you work in a weather related profession, its one of those pet peeves I don't let slip :)
Jul 23, 2009 at 1:25 p.m.
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Here we go again...another perfectionist in MrScott.
Jul 23, 2009 at 1:09 p.m.
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How does one "hear" a lightning strike? And how is it determined that the lightning strike was "huge"? Lightning is pretty much the same size regardless.
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