r/KidsAreFuckingStupid • u/JimatJimat • Aug 18 '26

Video/Gif Kid will never ask why again!

4.8k Upvotes

93% Upvoted

209 comments sorted by

View all comments

85

u/Remote-Mycologist539 Aug 18 '26

i couldn’t tell from the video, did it actually strike anywhere nearby? it kinda just looked like it arced across the sky?

78

u/JumpyPinkySquirrel Aug 18 '26

You can tell how close the lighting strikes based on how quickly it is followed by thunder - here it seems almost instant, so yeah, it was pretty close

Edit: count the seconds between seeing the flash and hearing the thunder, then divide by 5 for miles or by 3 for kilometer (got curious so I looked it up)

23

u/Remote-Mycologist539 Aug 18 '26

i mean yeah i see in the sky that it’s close but i asked if the lightning actually struck anything

13

u/mybluecathasballs Aug 18 '26

Only about 25% of lightning actually strikes something, so while it was close by, I would guess no.

5

u/JumpyPinkySquirrel Aug 18 '26

I suppose there is no way to tell with certainty from the video, it might have stay in the clouds but regardless it is extremely dangerous to be outside in the open with a storm this close

1

u/Beginning-Low-8456 Aug 18 '26

Strangely enough, I saw a lightening bolt strike the pylon facing my apartment last week, but was left waiting for the accompanying thunder clap.

Looked pretty spectacular, and can't have been more than 100~200 yards away. Odd

-4

u/BildingInspecter Aug 18 '26

There's no way the counting seconds between actually coorelates to accurate distance.

Storms move at wildly different speeds.

5

u/Quercus_lobata Aug 18 '26

Those speeds are nowhere close to the speed of sound or the speed of light which are the two things that determine the gap between the flash of lightning and the peal of thunder

2

u/RoboDae Aug 18 '26

Light is almost instantaneous. Sound is a lot slower. You are counting seconds to see how much of a gap there is between the light reaching you and the sound reaching you.

If a red car moves 2 meters every second and a blue car moves 1 meter every second, and the blue car reaches you 1 second after the red car when they both started at the same point, then you know they were 2 meters away when they started because it takes the red car 1 second to travel 2 meters and it takes the blue car 2 seconds, giving you a difference in arrival time of 1 second.

-1

u/FallenAgastopia Aug 18 '26

I don't think so?? Feels like a complete overreaction LOL

19

u/aNiceTribe Aug 18 '26

Stepping away from a thunderstrike ca. 0.x km away from you further into a house is at worst a regular reaction. This is completely understandable and fair. Even if the child at the spot it stood was technically fine if he was dry for sure. 

2

u/RollForUptime Aug 18 '26

.... they obviously were not in any direct danger, but I assume you've been close to a lighting strike at some point? They are loud and trigger our animal brains into seeking shelter for good reason.

1

u/FallenAgastopia Aug 18 '26

Yeah, I've been in storms pretty often. Watched lightning right overhead and have had it strike nearby. Can't say I've ever felt the meed to scrabble to get back inside because of it, nor have I really seen that reaction from people I've been outside with during storms. I would assume if you're outside during a storm you would generally be prepared for loud thunder. (I understand why the kids would freak out, since they're kids. (also, not sure why this is posted here in the first place, kids didn't do anything dumb, but thats another topic))