Yesterday we had a weather front move in, bringing gale-force gusts of wind, heavy rain (heavy enough that it hurt!) and an intense electrical storm.
About 5 minutes in there was an intense flash, instantaneous earth-shattering !KABOOM! and we were without power.
My first thought was one of our satellite dishes had copped a direct hit... but I had no intentions of braving the rain (once was painful enough) again to have a look-see.
15 mins later it had blown over and the sun was shining as though there hadn't been a cloud in the sky. Another 20 minutes later, the power was restored. I'm thankful for our power-line guys... as we're one of only two properties off a spur line that runs several km through timber. Awesome job, lads! :2tsup:
By itself, that was enough for me, but not enough to prompt me to write about it. Why I am posting is that around an hour later it happened all over again!
Only... instead of the power going out, instead we had small, intense actinic arcs occurring seemingly in mid-air in the middle of the lounge and kitchen! No thunder... well... not what we would typically call thunder, but there were very definitely the loud crackling SNAPs of high-wattage discharge.
The first occurred in the kitchen, near the toaster/kettle and I'll swear the arc was about 2' long (really hard to tell, considering 'twas so fleeting) and in mid-air... but I thought I was seeing things. Instead, I told myself, the wind had probably lifted a sheet of corro, blowing water inside and down an internal wall, where it was shorting the power-point.
I called the missus to warn her and just as she walked into the kitchen another arc occurred in the middle of the kitchen. Between us. At a guess I'd say 6" long, starting in mid-air and ending in mid-air. :? About this time I thought "Oh Bother!" (Well... not quite, but why upset the censors? ;))
Then one in the living room... visible through an arch, And another couple... all the while I'm thinking "I shouldn't be standing here, but where do I go?" The Mrs had wisely retreated to the other end of the house. Five mins later the brief storm ended and all was, seemingly, well.
I've checked the roof and it is fine. All the house electricals are still working, no fuses were blown and even the electronics such as the telecomms equipment (modem, cell-phone amp, etc) which are hardwired and cannot be turned off are working satisfactorily.
No damage, except to my understanding of "How Things Work" (And maybe a little to my undies. :-:rolleyes:)
WTH? Does anyone have any explanation for this that adheres to the rules of Physics as we know them? I could understand if the roof was generating static and it was discharging through pipes, etc. to the ground. I'd still be astonished, but I could understand it .
Seemingly random mid-air arcs though? :no:
