"a" wrote in message
...
As some of you might know a game was abandoned and one called off last
night
at Old Trafford because there was lots of lightning around and the
referee
feared for the safety of the players (and fans). Would there really
have
been any significant risk

I would have been off like a shot if I had been on the pitch! There were
a lot of volts flying around there, and a lot of expensive people.

Probably most importantly, Sir Alex agreed with the referee!

--
Ken Cook, Copley (5miles north of Barnard Castle), County Durham.
830ft
http://mysite.wanadoo-members.co.uk/copley
(MO climat. site updated before 10Z and 19Z daily)
kencookATcopleydurham.freeserve.co.uk
(All times GMT)





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As some of you might know a game was abandoned and one called off last night
at Old Trafford because there was lots of lightning around and the referee
feared for the safety of the players (and fans). Would there really have
been any significant risk of a lightning strike hitting a player when you
consider the pitch is surrounded by huge metal stands (a couple of hundred
feet high I guess) on each side? I would have thought any lightning would
strike the stands (they thing one of the stands was hit last night) and go
to earth rather than through the remaining air?

Lightning doesn't have to hit a player to electrocute them, if lightning
hits the ground the current radiates away in all directions across the
surface and a pair of legs that are apart on the ground will have enough
voltage drop across them to fry the player quite effectively.

There's a piece of footage which crops up quite frequently on these reality
TV shows which shows a CG strike on the pitch and all the footy players
going down at once.

Les

--
Les Crossan,
Wallsend, Tyne & Wear 55N 01-30W,
Home of the Wallsend Stormcam - http://www.uksevereweather.org.uk

"a" wrote in message
...
As some of you might know a game was abandoned and one called off last
night
at Old Trafford because there was lots of lightning around and the referee
feared for the safety of the players (and fans). Would there really have
been any significant risk of a lightning strike hitting a player when you
consider the pitch is surrounded by huge metal stands (a couple of hundred
feet high I guess) on each side? I would have thought any lightning would
strike the stands (they thing one of the stands was hit last night) and go
to earth rather than through the remaining air?




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"a" wrote in message
...
As some of you might know a game was abandoned and one called off last
night
at Old Trafford because there was lots of lightning around and the referee
feared for the safety of the players (and fans). Would there really have
been any significant risk of a lightning strike hitting a player when you
consider the pitch is surrounded by huge metal stands (a couple of hundred
feet high I guess) on each side? I would have thought any lightning would
strike the stands (they thing one of the stands was hit last night) and go
to earth rather than through the remaining air?

Maybe they are just going on the fact that there have been precedents of
people being struck by lightning in these situations. I recall watching the
news or Match of the Day (1967) which showed a game from an early round of
the FA Cup between Highgate Utd (Solihull) and Enfield Town. Lightning
struck killing 1 player and injuring 7-all of which was broadcast.
Similarly I remember everyone being ushered out of the 'Wet and Wild' (!)
water theme park in Orlando because a thunderstorm was imminent. A frequent
occurrence there one would imagine.
As for Old Trafford-probably great concern for the welfare of the expensive
commodities (and investments) on the pitch.

All the best

--
George in Epping, West Essex (107m asl)
www.eppingweather.co.uk
www.winter1947.co.uk

On Fri, 6 Aug 2004 20:36:03 +0100, "a" wrote:

As some of you might know a game was abandoned and one called off last night
at Old Trafford because there was lots of lightning around and the referee
feared for the safety of the players (and fans). Would there really have
been any significant risk of a lightning strike hitting a player when you
consider the pitch is surrounded by huge metal stands (a couple of hundred
feet high I guess) on each side? I would have thought any lightning would
strike the stands (they thing one of the stands was hit last night) and go
to earth rather than through the remaining air?


Although lightning will often go for high points, this is not always
the case and the ground (and people) can be struck, even though there
are higher spots around in the vicinity.

Sports fields are fairly open and there have been some notable
incidents on football grounds in this country - sadly involving deaths
due tp lightning.

In my opinion sports in the open should cease as soon as a storm is in
the vicinity. Golf is immediately called off if lightning is around
and this forms part of the rules of the game, I believe.

JPG

Lightning doesn't have to hit a player to electrocute them, if lightning
hits the ground the current radiates away in all directions across the
surface and a pair of legs that are apart on the ground will have enough
voltage drop across them to fry the player quite effectively.

There's a piece of footage which crops up quite frequently on these
reality
TV shows which shows a CG strike on the pitch and all the footy players
going down at once.


Yeah, I have seen that but I seem to remember it was a very open field (ie
no big stands with metal roofs) - the Old Trafford pitch is tightly enclosed
and I would have thought it quite safe. Certainly I expect the spectators
would be more at risk being sent out into the open streets than inside a
metal building, although I guess the players might be a little bit safer.

Yn erthygl , sgrifennodd
JPG :
Although lightning will often go for high points, this is not always
the case and the ground (and people) can be struck, even though there
are higher spots around in the vicinity.

Just over a month ago I was in the Nordkapp centre in Norway, when a
storm brewed up and the building had a direct hit. I remember saying
"YESS!" in my excitement - as the fire alarms were activated.

Unfortunately the people who programmed the fire alarm software did not
take account of such an eventuality, and the voice over the loudspeaker
system kept saying "please leave the building immediately".

Fortunately, everyone except the staff realised that they were safer
inside than outside on an exposed plateau. Presumably the staff would
have been breaking all the rules if they'd officially told us we could
stay inside, but at least they didn't actually force us to go out.

It took them 30 minutes or so to realise the obvious, that the lightning
had triggered the alarms and not a fire. Apparently they hadn't had a
direct hit for 15 years.

Adrian
--
Adrian Shaw ais@
Adran Cyfrifiadureg, Prifysgol Cymru, aber.
Aberystwyth, Ceredigion, Cymru ac.
http://users.aber.ac.uk/ais uk

There's a piece of footage which crops up quite frequently on these
reality
TV shows which shows a CG strike on the pitch and all the footy players
going down at once.


This would make Man U good fun at long last!

Probably most importantly, Sir Alex agreed with the referee!

First time for everything...!

Richard

a wrote:
Lightning doesn't have to hit a player to electrocute them, if
lightning hits the ground the current radiates away in all
directions across the surface and a pair of legs that are apart on
the ground will have enough voltage drop across them to fry the
player quite effectively.

There's a piece of footage which crops up quite frequently on these
reality TV shows which shows a CG strike on the pitch and all the
footy players going down at once.


Yeah, I have seen that but I seem to remember it was a very open
field (ie no big stands with metal roofs) - the Old Trafford pitch is
tightly enclosed and I would have thought it quite safe. Certainly I
expect the spectators would be more at risk being sent out into the
open streets than inside a metal building, although I guess the
players might be a little bit safer.

According to tonight's Manchester Evening News, the stadium actually did receive
a direct hit, though when I was watching it on $ky Sports at the time, there
didn't appear to be any indication of any damage to the stadium (I would go as
far as saying that no-one there was any the wiser).

Paul.