Jim Probst heard the crack of lighting around 2 a.m. on Wednesday, but it wasn’t until he left his home in south St. Louis’ Boulevard Heights neighborhood around 6 a.m. to walk the dog that he spotted a column of smoke rising above the nearby Sts. Peter & Paul Cemetery.
What exactly happens when lightning strikes a tree? The most serious damage comes from thunder, and the explosive shock wave radiates from the lightning’s path. Additional tree damage can be caused by steam explosions from water just inside the bark. The most visible result of a lightning shock wave is the splitting open of bark and shallow radial cracking of the wood directly beneath the lightning path.
A gaping hole at the base of the trunk glowed red like a furnace, belching smoke into the overcast sky. The tree is still standing in the cemetery.
