In Depth: The beauty and danger of lightning
In Depth: Lightning
Although lightning is a beautiful, natural phenomena, it is also very powerful, dangerous, and sometimes even deadly. Hal talks with KTTV meteorologist Rick Dickert about the causes and types of lightning, and hear from Dr. Meg Haworth, who talks about her personal experience as a lightning strike victim.
LOS ANGELES - Segment One: Hal is joined by filmmaker Zoey Tur and CalFire Battalion Chief Isaac Sanchez. They discuss Tur’s upcoming documentary on the 2020 August Complex fire in Northern California and the lightning storm that sparked it. Tur describes being out amidst the bolts in that storm and nearly being struck by one. He talks about what is in the upcoming documentary. More information on that can be found at newsmediafilms.com.
Captain Sanchez talks about the dangers of lightning sparking fires, but says that the greater danger is human actions. He discusses how to stay safe during lightning storms.
Segment Two: KTTV Meteorologist Rick Dickert talks with Hal about the causes and types of lightning. He brings up the concerns around the greater incidence of dry lightning, which occurs without rainstorms touching the ground, and why that is a danger for fire creation. They talk about the potential for climate change creating a greater likelihood of such dangerous strikes in the future.
Segment Three: Dr. Meg Haworth joins Hal to talk about her personal experience as a lightning strike victim. Haworth talks about the day 8 years ago when she and a friend were at Venice Beach and a lightning strike injured them and more than a dozen other people. One man was killed. Haworth says she had no warning and no chance to flee before the strike. She discusses the lingering physical and emotional impact of the incident.
Segment Four: Hal promotes his podcast and we end with visuals of the beauty of lightning, despite the danger.