It’s been rainy here, lately. Like, all the rain.
We have a park nearby. There’s a lightning horn at that park.
When it sounds–and it’s loud–you know that weather is approaching.
I just heard it honk.
And, at the same time, I hear the “pop–pop, pop, pop, pop“ from a nearby roofing crew.
Lightning horn? Is that the equivalent of the tornado siren we have here in "tornado alley?"
In OKC, they always test the sirens at noon on Saturdays. We were downtown one day not thinking about it, it's really eery to hear all the sirens going off and how they bounce off all the buildings and everything. And since it was sunny and nice that day, it almost feels like the beginning of horror/zombie movie or something.
Side note: When I moved to OKC from Tulsa, I was in my apartment first weekend and it was cloudy out and the sirens go off, so I'm immediately switching to the news, checking my phone, etc. Nothing going on. OKC tests the sirens regardless of weather. Tulsa on the other hand tested on Wednesday's and if it was cloudy, they wouldn't test.
Tsunami alert sirens and dead battery in the car sounds.
A lightning horn sounds when it detects lightning within a certain distance of where the alarm is located. We hear the one at the nearby school occasionally.
There is usually one in every golf course, which means everywhere in Fl. But yeah, Fl has a crapload of lightning.
I thought a lightning horn sounded about 5 seconds after the lightning per mile away the lightning was...
I've never heard a lightning horn, I'm north of Ft Meyers. Weird. Seems like it'd go off every afternoon from May to October.
In reply to DrBoost :
It does go off a bit around here.
I was once standing at the base of its pole when it went off. It loud.
On Friday, I was meeting a couple car friends for lunch. On the way home I could hear the fuel pump in the Lancia whining. It was pretty noticeable vs. the low hum that is its normal tune. By the time I made it home, it was back to normal. Today, I was going by a buddy's shop to put it up on the lift to see about a location to mount an A/C compressor. When I start it up, the fuel pump is back to the loud whine. Then the little whine of my brain goes off. I decide to go ahead and go. I make it down the street a half mile, round the turn, and roll on the throttle pretty hard. It makes it to about 4,000 RPM and the exhaust roar goes quiet and the car falls flat on its face. Lift off the throttle and it settles back in at idle. Quick u-turn and back home I go. So, does this count? A noisy fuel pump and a quiet engine.
Minor win - I made it home.
Lightning horn? Around here people just get zapped.
Pete. (l33t FS) said:I thought a lightning horn sounded about 5 seconds after the lightning per mile away the lightning was...
Thunder = Conscious man's lightning horn.
Slippery said:But yeah, Fl has a crapload of lightning.
:nods:
One of the possible sources for Tampa's name is a Calusa word for lightning.
Here in Kansas they test our tornado sirens the first Wed of each month at 11 am.......almost year round. I don't think they do them in Dec, Jan and Feb, but by March we're watching the skies again.....and sometimes we get Thunder/Snow......
This all really interesting to me. We get plenty of lightning as well.
Is there a different horn for a tornado warning there?
In OK, I've only ever heard of tornado sirens and then flood gate sirens. IE, if you lived in one of the neighborhoods on the river below a dam, they will start sounding a big siren letting everyone know they are about to release water.
1988RedT2 said:Pete. (l33t FS) said:I thought a lightning horn sounded about 5 seconds after the lightning per mile away the lightning was...
Thunder = Conscious man's lightning horn.
That's what I was thinking. Lightning comes with its own annunciator. It's almost impossible to miss. Why is a horn needed?
I wish I knew who sold that idea. Pretty sure he could sell water to a drowning person.
Toyman! said:1988RedT2 said:Pete. (l33t FS) said:I thought a lightning horn sounded about 5 seconds after the lightning per mile away the lightning was...
Thunder = Conscious man's lightning horn.
That's what I was thinking. Lightning comes with its own annunciator. It's almost impossible to miss. Why is a horn needed?
I wish I knew who sold that idea. Pretty sure he could sell water to a drowning person.
I don't know how they work, but they do work and often times will go off before you can hear thunder or see any lightning in the distance. We had them at the golf course I worked at. Once it went off, and about 15 seconds after the siren went off we saw a gigantic bolt hit about 500-700 yards away. It was slightly overcast, there had been no thunder whatsoever before that.
Toyman! said:1988RedT2 said:Pete. (l33t FS) said:I thought a lightning horn sounded about 5 seconds after the lightning per mile away the lightning was...
Thunder = Conscious man's lightning horn.
That's what I was thinking. Lightning comes with its own annunciator. It's almost impossible to miss. Why is a horn needed?
I wish I knew who sold that idea. Pretty sure he could sell water to a drowning person.
If you can hear thunder, you are in danger of getting hit. If there is an alarm that sounds when lightning is just outside the danger zone...
Also, storms move quickly. By the time you can hear thunder you may not have time to get inside.
Flight lines, golf courses, beaches, anywhere thats nice and flat and open like much of Florida is a place that could use it
In reply to Toyman! :
I assume the horn goes off before the lightning.
In reply to Will :
Yep. When we hear the horn, we know that a storm is likely approaching. (The horn basically tells us that maybe it’s a good time to take the dog out now and not wait a while.)
In reply to Mr_Asa :
I grew up with the daily afternoon thunderstorms during the summer so I don't really consider them dangerous. I enjoy sitting on my porch while they roll through.
In reply to Toyman! :
When I was young and stupid I considered that a great time to throw the sailboat in the water and haul ass.
Toyman! said:In reply to Mr_Asa :
I grew up with the daily afternoon thunderstorms during the summer so I don't really consider them dangerous. I enjoy sitting on my porch while they roll through.
Same. My primary example above, the flightline, is a definite safety measure thats needed. The rest... eh. I am generally of the opinion that we have too many safety labels on things, but you can't convince the people in charge of those things to let nature sort itself out.
That being said, I feel compelled to point out that you sitting under your porch means that you're effectively avoiding getting struck by lightning.
Toyman! said:In reply to Mr_Asa :
I grew up with the daily afternoon thunderstorms during the summer so I don't really consider them dangerous. I enjoy sitting on my porch while they roll through.
Around here you basically only see them at gigantic sports complexes/parks and golf courses. They're pretty localized to spots where you're out in the open, and there is a good chance you're holding a metal stick (golf club, baseball bat, lacrosse stick).
David S. Wallens said:In reply to Will :
(The horn basically tells us that maybe it’s a good time to take the dog out now and not wait a while.)
Now, that would be usefull. Our storms frequently start with a bang and a downpour.
Mr_Asa said:Toyman! said:In reply to Mr_Asa :
I grew up with the daily afternoon thunderstorms during the summer so I don't really consider them dangerous. I enjoy sitting on my porch while they roll through.
Same. My primary example above, the flightline, is a definite safety measure thats needed. The rest... eh. I am generally of the opinion that we have too many safety labels on things, but you can't convince the people in charge of those things to let nature sort itself out.
That being said, I feel compelled to point out that you sitting under your porch means that you're effectively avoiding getting struck by lightning.
I was thinking about something tangentially related on the way home earlier.
Why are the "slow school zones" around high schools? If you're in high school and don't know you shouldn't step out into moving traffic, I suspect you're not on the path to be a Nobel Laureate or become a Rhodes Scholar.
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