Thunderstorms bring ‘Fifth of July’ fireworks to Daniel Island

Just a day after Fourth of July fireworks boomed and illuminated the Charleston night sky, a flashier unexpected light show sequel returned on the Fifth of July.

 

This time to the delight of no one.

 

A frenetic and ferocious thunderstorm storm ripped through Daniel Island and its surrounding region the day after the nation’s birthday essentially holding residents and businesses hostage inside as people took cover from a four-hour electrical pounding.

 

It was an afternoon event that did not want to leave - a storm that recorded 3,200 lighting strikes within a 25-mile range, according to Daniel Island meteorologist Shea Gibson. 

 

“It was unusually long,” Gibson said. “Usually storms like that would fizzle out after an hour or two, but when we see three, four, five hours long worth of lightning of that magnitude, it becomes a little bit more likely of an urban [concern].”

 

Gibson, a savvy 15-year weather vet who has more than 10,000 followers on his Facebook weather page, quickly jumped online to respond to the dozens of queries from ear-perked neighbors who, amid the sounds of constant thunderbolt cracks and booms, started hearing

the roar of engines and sirens echoing up and down their streets.

 

“Fortunately, most of the strikes we saw were negatively-charged.” Gibson said. “Those tend to be a lot weaker, but they can still be deadly and can still cause a lot of damage and fires.”

 

Charleston Fire Chief Dan Curia said 28 storm-related incidents occurred in the city of Charleston within the span of just 80 minutes. 

 

The surge of emergency phone calls forced other units from Charleston, North Charleston, Mount Pleasant and the Isle of Palms to race to I-526 to aid in the “multiple, nearly simultaneous calls on Daniel Island.” 

 

“Nine of the most significant incidents were reported as possible structure fires believed to be a result of lightning strikes on Daniel Island,” Curia said. “Two… were confirmed structure fires, resulting in attic and roof damage to both homes.” 

 

Curia said the other seven incidents included damage to electrical equipment which produced a burning odor or light smoke in those homes. 

 

But the damage wasn’t limited to buildings.

 

Chris Hamil, operations manager for the Daniel Island Property Owners Association, said a tree was struck by lightning on Smythe Park Island and a combination of ants, rain and a power surge caused the entry gates to go haywire at the Pierce Park Pool and Pavilion,

temporarily shutting it down for three days.

 

“Initially, the system wouldn’t lock the gates appropriately,” Hamil said. “It also permanently locked the restrooms and damaged the wiring and fob reader at the back gate.” 

 

More than 100 Home Telecom customers were also affected as cable officials said heavy lightning impacted field equipment, power supplies and optical network terminals, which act as modem devices for fiber optic internet connections.

 

Fortunately, no major injuries were reported.

 

As an ardent weather watcher, Gibson still cautions everyone as the Lowcountry continues to endure the hotter months. 

 

He says the summer weather is ripe for more high electricity storms that pose dangerous situations.

 

“The hotter the temperatures get with our moist environment, the ocean nearby, and the sea breeze structure we have, there’s just times we will get these high chance electrical storms.” Gibson said. “It’s just part of our region. It’s where we live.” 

 

He said simple things like staying indoors or remaining in your car if you can’t get to safety is paramount during these lightning storms. 

 

And standing next to a tree is a no-no.

 

“Definitely do not stand under a tree - those are conductors of electricity,” he said. “There was just a story that popped out of Alabama. There were 30 cows killed all huddling under a tree (when lightning hit.)” 

 

As for home protection, Gibson said lightning rods are “very effective” against building damage and fire as the grounded metal lines can absorb a tremendous amount of energy that may limit damage to the facility and to HVAC units. 

 

“It’s definitely worth the investment,” he said.

 

The crux of Gibson’s passion for weather, including his live posting on his social media sites, is collecting data on lightning patterns, strikes and volumes that may provide people a better “heads up” as storms unexpectedly move-in. 

 

He works for a company called Weather Flow that specializes in home weather monitors. In conjunction with data from other weather monitor users, he says the information can form a lightning network that may give more advance warning of dangerous weather events as they close-in in real time.

 

You can follow Shea Gibson on Facebook at facebook.com/WeatherFlowCHAS or on Twitter @SheaGibsonWx.