by Dave Guadagni

Answer for Last Week's Puzzler

What do you know about lightning? True or False:

The Empire State Building is struck about seven times a year.

On average, a commercial airliner is struck once during every 5,000 to 10,000 hours of flying time.

Roughly 2,000 thunderstorms are in progress over the earth's surface at any given time, producing as many as 100 cloud-to-ground discharges every second.

The Midwest states experience the most lightning activity in the United States.

A lightning channel is about 8 inches (20 centimeters) in diameter.

A lightning flash could light a 100 watt bulb for 3 months.

Answer: 

This week's answers:
True or False?

The Empire State Building is struck by lightning about seven times a year. False: The Empire State Building is struck about 23 times a year.

On average, a commercial airliner is struck once during every 5,000 to 10,000 hours of flying time. True.

Roughly 2,000 thunderstorms are in progress over the earth's surface at any given time, producing as many as 100 cloud-to-ground discharges every second. True.

The Midwest states experience the most lightning activity in the United States. False: Florida is the lightning hotspot in the U.S.

A lightning channel is about 8 inches (20 centimeters) in diameter. False: A lightning channel is about twice the thickness of a pencil.

A lightning flash could light a 100 watt bulb for 3 months. True.

Bookmark this page:

The answers to this week's puzzler will be published here next week.

Dave Guadagni, AIA, is an architect with Robertson/Sherwood/Architects

Quizzical Pursuit is Copyright 2000, Dave Guadagni.