[TheForge] Weathervanes and Lightening

[DillonCo]

Andy Vida:
> pitbull wrote:
> >
> > That was the thought back when lightning rods were sold, however they
> > determined that it actually made the likelihood of a strike greater and
> > caused numerous fires. That's why lightning rods where basically removed
> > from the market.
>
> Makes sense, at least when one considers that the rods were invariably
> mounted directly on the housing structure, which never really made that
> much sense to me.  How's about on a tall pole nearby, but not too near?

I recall hearing that lightning can only be moved by about 4 feet in any
direction (a conservative estimate).  So if it strikes a rod on a house,
it'd probably stike the house without the rod.  As someone said, it's better
to have most of it go where you want rather than all of it go somewhere you
don't.  The rod will vaporize (or maybe not if it's tungsten!), but metal
vapor would still be somewhat more conductive than air ;).
Does anyone know the current, voltage, and duration of the average lightning
strike?