 Tree Damage
This smaller tree in Spring Hill Cemetery, Charleston, WV was struck by lightning in July of 1998. The scars on this tree are narrower towards the
bottom of the trunk, and wider towards the top. Notice the spiral pattern
the scars seem to follow down the trunk. Some speculation has attrubuted
this spiral path to the lightning's magnetic field, but it is actually
caused by the tree's spiral internal structure.
(click on each photo for a larger version)
This tree was probably struck about 1 week
before these photos were taken, and was killed instantly- 1 week
after these photos were taken, the trees leaves were all withered and had
turned brown. This tree's bark is falling off in large patches, as shown in these photos taken on February 19, 1999:
(Click on each photo for an enlarged version)
This tree's direct strike is compelling proof that lightning doesn't always strike the tallest or most conductive object. The tree is situated on this mountaintop location just north of downtown Charleston, WV (pictured below). A tall tower used by the airport is situated on the peak. Lightning bypassed the tower, which is much taller and more conductive than the surrounding trees, and struck the tree (pitcured above), less than 40 feet away!
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