Storm chaser Richard Tóth. (source: SME - Jozef Jakubčo)
When lightning struck a hundred metres behind him, he felt paralysis and spasms in his legs. "I'm lucky to still be here," says RICHARD TÓTH from the Stormchasers.sk group in an interview with daily Sme. They chase storms, take pictures and gather data about their strength or the amount of lightning.
After the close encounter, he immediately sat down and wrote strict rules regarding storm chasing. To this day, chasers follow them to the letter every time they go out.
Can nice weather be disappointing?
Nice weather like now, when the sun is shining and it's hot (the interview took place in Bratislava at the end of June - Ed. note), is a good sign. A storm is coming. It's rather disappointing for us when it looks like there will be storms and in the end nothing comes of it, rain at most.
When did you start chasing storms?
It was during high school thanks to a late friend of mine who used to observe weather. Once, we went outside a town into a field and sat in a car for two hours, during which basically nothing happened. Then a storm came. It started to rain, followed by small hailstones.
And then, lightning struck a tree near the car we were sitting in. Its lateral discharge struck the hood of the car. Our phones, cameras, everything we had with us stopped working. That was when I said to myself that this is an incredible force and I want to know more about storms. It's quite a paradox, because as a child I was afraid of storms.
Most people would have been dissuaded by such an experience.
It's relatively safe in a car, because it's a Faraday cage (an enclosure made of conductive material, its entire interior protected from the effects of external electric fields - Ed. note), and it protects you if you are not touching the body or hood.
Have you ever been struck by lightning?
