Deadly Cloud

Yesterday I recalled a cloudburst on Sunday, with thoughts about lightning and its dangers. Today I read the following in the Tribune, by reporter Claire Heininger:

“The lightning crackling in the steamy suburban air signaled that a storm was approaching, but nothing could have warned the Coopers just how fast.

“As they stacked lawn chairs and gathered dirty dishes in the back yard of their Roselle home Sunday, the lightning that had seemed distant struck and killed Patrick Cooper, 15, and knocked his uncle to the grass...

“The cause of death was electrocution, said a spokeswoman for the Cook County medical examiner's office.”

Roselle shares a border with Schaumburg, fairly near where I live, so the strike must have been only two or three miles away. I saw the same storm and heard the same thunder -- while I was outside, as I said yesterday. Fifteen years old. A damned shame. The article continued:

“The storms that raced through the northwestern and western suburbs Sunday night came from that mold, said WGN-TV meteorologist Tom Skilling. Clusters of small storms are common in the summer, he said, and can produce lightning strikes without the typical warning signs.

" ‘Very often there's been extended sunshine beforehand,’ he said. ‘I don't think people realize the degree of risk they're at.’

“It's also not uncommon for lightning to dart down into small spaces like yards, as bolts ‘can arc some distance away from the cloud that produced [them],’ Skilling said.”

Gee, something else to worry about. On the other hand:

“It was only the fourth lightning fatality in the Chicago area in the last 10 years, and the 10th in Illinois during that time period, said Jim Allsopp, warning coordination meteorologist for the National Weather Service…”

Not what I’d call bad odds. Car accidents are still the Reaper’s number-one method of choice when it comes to those who die young. But if you’re under that bolt, the long odds don't matter. A little detail on Patrick Cooper:

Numerous family members gathered at the Coopers' Locust Lane home Monday, talking and laying bouquets of flowers near the grassy spot where Patrick died. [He] was a member of the football and track teams at Lake Park, recently earning honors in the triple jump, his brother said.