Driving home last night from the airport I was spellbound by the lightning which lit up the Johannesburg skyline. So much so that I wanted to know the what, the how’s and the when’s.

Quickly I learned that what we saw last night was “heat lightning” which is lightning from a thunderstorm whereby the thunderstorm was too far away for the thunder to be heard.

Some interesting facts shared by the South African Weather Services;

• It is estimated that 1 in 350,000 people could get struck by lightning
• Lightning can occur as far as 16 km away from any rainfall
• Wearing rubber sole shoes is not going to protect you
• Your car is not as save as you might think. It can however provide protection should you not touch any metal
• The electric current from a single lightning bolt can give light to a town of 200 000 people for a period of one minute
• It is true that lightning can strike the same place twice
• An estimates 100 lightning flashes occur every second over mother earth

I cannot wait to see if we will be entertained tonight again.

As I looked, behold, a storm wind was coming from the north, a great cloud with fire flashing forth continually and a bright light around it, and in its midst something like glowing metal in the midst of the fire. Ezekiel 1:4