Dramatic video shows lightning strike blowing off top of tree in Lassen

A Lassen Volcanic National Park concessions worker took dramatic video of a lightning strike that blew apart the top of a red fir tree last Wednesday.

Numerous thunderstorms hitting the Lassen National Forest area over the past couple of weeks have prompted park officials to begin spreading a lightning safety message.

Park officials said in a Facebook post accompanying the May 29, 2019, video that the average bolt of lightning contains about 1 billion watts of power, or 1 gigawatt, which is the equivalent to the power output of more than 3,000 V8 engines.

“Lightning forms when a thunderhead cloud, which is negatively charged at its bottom, interacts with positively charged particles on the earth’s surface,” the post reads. “These areas of positive charge tend to concentrate in tall objects -- like the red fir trees behind the Kohm Yah-mah-nee Visitor Center.

“If you were out exploring in Lassen Volcanic NP and you heard thunder in the distance, what would you do?”

National Park Service ranger Greg Purifoy shared the answer to that question in a Facebook message to The Bee.

“The best thing to do in a thunder and lightning storm is to go indoors,” the ranger said. “The next best thing is to go inside a vehicle with the windows rolled up. If you are stuck outside, move to a relatively low point (no ridgetops or mountainsides), and away from ponds, lakes, and tall trees. Crouch down on your feet and put an insulator between you and the ground (like a foam sleeping pad or even a backpack). The additional insulation can help protect you from electrical current that might travel through the ground if a strike occurs nearby.”

National parks employee Akunzhanou Dastan took the footage of the lightning strike.

This story was originally published June 4, 2019 at 11:51 AM.