BBC Weather Watch: Lightning

[Weather-history]

Here's a short programme by the BBC on lightning. Look out for the footage of a lightning bolt that hits Jimmy Connors' racquet!

[Aceman]

great vid, couldnt think of a better person to explain lightning!

[Weather-history]

A couple of errors that I have spotted, the Jimmy Connors incident doesn't look like Wimbledon to me, look at the court, it ain't grass! Also the Uni Boat Race lightning flash was 1987 not 1986 as stated.

[Aceman]

....confirmation Craig was high when making this video

[Lauren]

Interesting vid, thanks for that!

In Greece during the thunderstorm season they have a storm risk for the country and a map with the different percentages all over it, I'm surprised I haven't seen this in other countries.

[Keraunic]

Ah, a classic from 1992. I remember watching and taping the original. Nice to see it again. Thanks.

[Stuart]

Waching that got me in to weather in that year

[syed2878]

Hey guys plz send me the link to the video thanks.

[Mesoscale]

I might not have even been 1 years old when that came out. Interesting. they probably showed it as people in the late 1980s and early 1990s experienced thunderstorms more then we do today.

[Tim B]

I remember taping these too, I still have the weather watch book somewhere.

[Sue Purcell]

Coincidentally, I just came across that episode (as well as the tornadoes one) in the course of transferring my old videos to DVD. Apart from it not being at Wimbledon, as (Mr_Data pointed out earlier) that Jimmy Connors lightning strike has to be fake, surely? First off, there's no mention of it elsewhere on the internet, and secondly wouldn't there have been a more violent effect on Connors, physically and psychologicaly, especially as I think he was using a metal racquet ahead of most other players at the time. Wouldn't the game have been abandoned straight away? Again, no mention on the internet.

I have a vague memory that there might have been a storm during the match and that there was a nearby strike and practically simultaneous crack of thunder, and Connors deliberately let go of his racquet out of self-preservation as an instantaneous reaction to that.

[Tim B]

Apart from it not being at Wimbledon, as (Mr_Data pointed out earlier) that Jimmy Connors lightning strike has to be fake, surely?

It may have been a streamer that fired off his racquet but didn't connect and the bolt hit elsewhere nearby, causing it to look like he was hit from that angle when he was not.

[Sue Purcell]

It certainly resembles a streamer, albeit an unusually photogenic one, but it is odd that something so unusual happening to someone so famous and apparently caught on camera doesn't have any internet presence at all. Coupled with the obvious "Wimbledon" error, it does seem a bit fishy.

Edited May 28, 2012 by Sue Purcell

[Tim B]

Probably because of how long ago it was, there was no internet in 1985.

[Sue Purcell]

There are countless articles on the internet about Connors and tennis in the '80s. I'm not talking about viral videos.

Anyway, I found this: http://aeltc2011.wimbledon.com/125th-championships/history/championships-snapshots/centre-court-lightning.html

I suspect the Weather Watch makers conflated the 1985 Wimbledon storm with the (possibly enhanced) Connors footage and because it was just a throwaway tongue-in-cheek 10-minute programme didn't think anyone would notice or care .

[Tim B]

I'll bet it was a streamer in the footage but because there was no delay between the flash and thunder (like at the Wimbledon storm) it looked like a hit when the footage was played back.

Why they said it was Wimbledon I don't know but my guess is that it was either a mistake by someone on the production team who was at said Wimbledon storm and didn't read the archive tape properly or they simply changed the names around because everyone has heard of it even if they aren't tennis fans.

[Sue Purcell]

This thread should get bumped in just over a year - Connors' memoirs are due 6 June 2013! http://www.amazon.co...38251145&sr=1-1

[Tim B]

Hehe!

I might have a look at that when it comes out if I remember though this thread will have probably been auto pruned by then, not sure if this area gets archived.

[Sue Purcell]

This thread should get bumped in just over a year - Connors' memoirs are due 6 June 2013! http://www.amazon.co...38251145&sr=1-1

 

 

Hehe!

I might have a look at that when it comes out if I remember though this thread will have probably been auto pruned by then, not sure if this area gets archived.

 

Bumped as promised!

The Connors book is out now but I couldn't see anything about the lightning incident in the index or leafing through the pages in the bookstore. Perhaps a tennis fan here will buy it and report back?