Re: tesla-d Digest V2006 #271

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Original poster: Russell L Thornton <Russell.L.Thornton@xxxxxxxx>


Hi Bert,
That makes perfect sense.  It must have been some arc but there are some
pretty high voltage lines running over I-95.  I was so in awe of it that
I totally lost track of where exactly it was.  Well we are into another
hurricane season down here so it will be fun watching the lightning again.
The other night I witnessed over a dozen strikes to the main TV antenna
farm down here for Orlando.  One strike hit 3 anttenas at one time.
Pretty spectacular.
Russ


>Hi Russ,
>
>While it could have been ball lightning, it was more likely that what
>between one of the phases and a nearby ground wire (such as the one
>at the top of poles for protecting the power lines underneath). Once
>initiated, a phase to ground arc can persist for quite some time
>before stopping either by being self extinguished, or by eventually
>tripping an upstream ground fault detection relay (a 3-phase version
>of a home GFI or arc fault detector... but on steroids).
>
>Bert