The juxtaposition of two electric sources highlights the stark differences between them. While the half-second lightning flash contains 30,000 amperes of direct current, along a tortuously shaped plasma “wire” carved through the air by the invisible step leader, the physical wires supply only enough continual alternating current to support 15- to 30-amp outlets in the house. The pole-mounted can contains a transformer that transforms higher-voltage AC to the lower voltage needed for this farmstead. Now one can see how household electronics and appliances can be overwhelmed by a nearby lightning strike accessible to the wires, even if most of the lightning’s power goes elsewhere.
1 SE Aspermont TX (7 May 23) Looking S
33.1284, -100.2141