Last night's robust thunderstorms may have made it hard for you to sleep, but photographer Ryan Jakubowski was up with his camera around 1 a.m. to capture these amazing images of lightning striking our transmission tower at Broadcast House in Southfield.
Though the storms didn't bring any damaging wind or hail to our area, they did produce hundreds of lightning bolts, many of which struck the ground or something attached to the ground.
Its not unusual for our 900-foot-tall tower to be struck by lightning; as a metal object that is much taller than most anything around, it is a lightning rod.
Our broadcasts are rarely significantly impacted by these strikes. I was actually working inside monitoring the storms at the time these images were taken, and there was no interruption to our signal or any loss of power. I didn't even know it happened.
The images serve as a great reminder of the beauty and power of nature. One of the reasons it's best to always be inside during any thunderstorm, severe or not, is that you risk being the tallest object in a particular area if you are out in the elements. That could mean lightning strikes you. But if your house is struck while you're inside, you will not be injured by the strike.
We thank Ryan Jakubowski for sending us his pictures.
