This tree in Coonskin Park in Charleston, WV is a classic example of the more extreme damage that lightning can inflict. The lightning channel here traveled through the center of the tree, severely fragmenting one side of the trunk and leaving only a semi-circle shaped cross-section of the tree standing. Large splinters of wood from this tree were observed more than 20 feet away in the forest, ranging in size from a few inches to 7 feet long. It was no doubt a powerful strike that victimized this tree.
Judging by the non-decayed appearance of the splintered wood debris, it appears that this may have been a fresh strike when these photos were taken in August 2000, possibly occurring as recently as 3 months prior.
This tree was likely already dead before the strike, evidenced by fungus growth on the trunk along with the lack of branches. Dead or dying trees have moist, decaying cores that provide better conductive paths for lightning channels than under the bark layer.
My work is, at this very moment you are reading this, generating the most income it ever has in my career. Yet, I was forced to shut down the professional side of my successul operation, against my will, due to one cause alone: 95% of that revenue is being stolen by piracy and copyright infringement. I've lost more than $1 million to copyright infringement in the last 15 years, and it's finally brought an end to my professional storm chasing operation. Do not be misled by the lies of infringers, anti-copyright activists and organized piracy cartels. This page is a detailed, evidenced account of my battle I had to undertake to just barely stay in business, and eventually could not overcome. It's a problem faced by all of my colleagues and most other creators in the field.
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From Dan: Please Read
To my regular readers, I offer my apologies for this heavy-handed notice. Unfortunately it has become necessary, so please bear with me!
Please don't copy/upload this site's content to social media or other web sites. Those copies have been a critical problem for me, seriously harming this site and my photography/storm chasing operation by diverting traffic, viewers, engagement and income. "Credit" and "exposure" does not benefit this site or my operation, rather they threaten my ability to cover my operating expenses. Please read my full explanation for this notice here.
Before continuing, check each box to agree to and acknowledge these two statements:
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This chase was a routine television assignment in my role as a cameraman. As a result, many of these don't have a dedicated chase log.
This chase was only recorded in my mileage reports, no detailed log was written for it.
