I grew up in Fort Worth, Texas, where we had a lot of thunderstorms. I enjoyed watching the lightning. Later, at , one of the teams was using thunder to map lightning to learn where it was occurring in storms.
That鈥檚 what got me hooked.
A big part of is chasing storms. We attach instruments to balloons鈥攑retty large balloons, roughly 30 feet long and seven feet wide. We fill them with helium. We don鈥檛 use hydrogen鈥攍ightning is all around, and we鈥檇 just as soon not have an explosion.
Watching a storm from any distance is a thrill because of the power involved and the spectacle of the winds and lightning. It鈥檚 a thrill, it鈥檚 awe-inspiring, it鈥檚 beautiful. As you approach the storm, it鈥檚 all of those things. There鈥檚 also respect. Storms are hazardous. They produce tornadoes, large hail, and lightning, which is what we鈥檙e trying to understand. We鈥檙e like hunters. The storm is our prey, and we鈥檙e trying to capture it with our balloon.
The excitement begins when we get close. We have a great view. It鈥檚 like watching fireworks right in front of you. We have rain gear, but we do get wet. In a heavy thunderstorm, there鈥檚 nothing you can do that will keep you dry. The hail can get big enough to hurt you鈥攂ig enough to kill you. When 60 mph winds blow hail, it鈥檚 like being struck by a musket ball. When it hits you, it hurts.
We get close to the storms, but we stay as safe as we can. There have been times when our hair stood on end. The electrical force was so strong that it caused a current to flow through our bodies. The potential of a flash was very high. We dove into our vehicles. Nobody has been hurt in our stormchasing.
But we have had flashes strike very close. One hit a power line a couple hundred feet away. When lightning is that close, the sound is different. It鈥檚 almost like tearing paper, and then there鈥檚 a big boom that鈥檒l make your ears ring, like an explosion. That鈥檚 what thunder is鈥攁ir heating up so fast it explodes.
Back when we started, we had very little idea why storms produced lightning. Now we know that what electrifies storms are collisions between big ice crystals and little ice crystals.
The lightning channel itself is 20,000 to 30,000 degrees Fahrenheit鈥攈otter than the surface of the sun. The hotter things get, the brighter they shine. If you see a piece of metal getting hot, it glows red, then yellow, and eventually blue and white. That鈥檚 what you鈥檙e seeing in a lightning channel. It鈥檚 heating the air so much that it becomes luminous.
If you鈥檙e hiking, the is to be off the mountain by 3:00 p.m. Most thunderstorms occur in mid- to late afternoon. Don鈥檛 stand underneath an isolated tree for rain shelter鈥攖hat tree is more likely to be struck. Don鈥檛 stand under a tree that鈥檚 taller than the others.
From the time you see a flash, count the number of seconds until you hear the thunder, then divide that number by five. That鈥檚 how many miles away it is. If you can鈥檛 get to safety when lightning is occurring around you, stand or crouch. Don鈥檛 lie flat. Basically, make your target as small as you can. And stay out of the water.
Interviewed by Jacob Baynham.