'Left for greener pastures together': Professional rodeo cowboy and his horse killed by lightning strike



A professional rodeo athlete and his horse were killed by a lightning strike in a rural area of Nebraska.

Terrel Vineyard, 27, was on horseback checking on cattle north of Oshkosh shortly after 2 p.m. on June 21, the Garden County Attorney’s Office said in a statement to KNOP-TV.

Vineyard, a married father of three, was pronounced dead by first responders at the scene.

An autopsy confirmed that Vineyard died from a lightning strike, the attorney’s office said.

Vineyard's horse, named Dose, was also killed by the lightning strike.

Vineyard was a professional calf and team roper who qualified for the World Series of Team Roping in Las Vegas on three occasions.

Mike Kammerer, president of the Wyoming Rodeo Association, told the Cowboy State Daily, "Our thoughts and prayers and condolences for the families from the Wyoming Rodeo Association. That just hits close to home, because the one thing about rodeo families is they’re all pretty tightknit."

Vineyard leaves behind his wife, Stacey, and three young daughters.

He was buried on Tuesday in Nebraska.

A GoFundMe campaign was launched to financially assist the Vineyard family.

"Terrel had many horses along the way but always had a main mount during each phase of his life. Terrel purchased Dose a few years ago as a roping prospect. Terrel and Dose left for greener pastures together – Terrel with his rope in hand," the fundraising campaign stated.

Vineyard and his wife got married earlier this year, according to the GoFundMe listing.

Stacey Vineyard wrote on Facebook, “June 27th, 2023 we laid our husband, son, and brother to rest. It has been truly humbling to receive the love that has been shown for Terrel and all of us."

Mourners brought horses to Terrel's funeral service.

"The Vineyard family wants to thank everyone for what they have done for us the last week and moving forward. Helping us prepare for Terrel’s service and making sure we are also taken care of," the widow said. "Thank you to those who graciously contributed to the girls' memorial account and to those who have made meals for us. It has been truly humbling to receive the love that has been shown for Terrel and all of us."

The National Lightning Safety Council said Vineyard's death was the sixth U.S. fatality from lightning in 2023. There were 19 lightning-caused fatalities in 2022.

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6-year-old boy dies from same lightning bolt that killed his father a month ago: 'I love you buddy'



A Texas boy passed away from the same lightning bolt that killed his father a month ago.

Around 5 p.m. on May 15, Matthew Boggs and his two sons were walking home after being dropped off at a school bus stop. Boggs was holding hands with his 6-year-old son, while the 11-year-old son walked on the other side of the driveway by the home in Bosque County.

Matthew's mother Angela told KWTX-TV in May, “He just got done telling Grayson — he said, 'I love you buddy.' That’s when the lightning came down."

A lightning bolt struck the father, and the electricity flowed through his hands to his 6-year-old son. The elder son, Elijah, was nearby when his father and brother were struck by lightning.

The force of the lightning strike knocked the shoes off the father and son, according to Fox Weather. They landed face down on the pavement.

Family members quickly rolled the 34-year-old father over, but his face had already turned blue. Life-saving measures were given to Matthew and Grayson.

Matthew was pronounced dead.

Grayson was found "unresponsive, but breathing." He was rushed to the Baylor Scott & White McLane Children's Medical Center in Temple, Texas. He was put on a ventilator.

KCEN-TV reported, "He started breathing on his own, but was then put on a feeding tube, according to family posts on Facebook."

Grayson was placed in palliative care on June 14, according to a GoFundMe page.

Grayson Boggs died at 5:05 a.m. on June 16, a month after his father passed away.

"Please pray for the family at this time. Fly high, sweet boy," a message read on the crowdfunding site.

At the time of publication, the GoFundMe raised more than $90,000 for the Boggs family in the wake of the tragedy of losing the young boy.

Including the father and son, there have been seven Americans killed by lightning in 2023, according to the National Lightning Safety Council. There were reportedly 19 deaths from lightning strikes in 2022.

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Report: Scientists can now control lightning with lasers



Humanity now boasts the ability once attributed to mythological gods such as Zeus, Marduk, and Thor.

Scientists atop a Swiss mountain proved themselves capable of steering lightning bolts using lasers, effectively deflecting four lightning strikes on a telecommunications tower.

While this field of research has been active for decades, physicist Aurélien Houard of the École Polytechnique and his team documented the first experiment that demonstrates the efficacy of lightning guidance using lasers.

Where there's thunder, there may be lasers

In a study published Monday in the academic journal Nature Photonics, researchers discussed how laser-induced beams of light, formed in the sky via intense and repeated laser pulses, can guide lightning bolts over considerable distances.

The scientists experimented on the Säntis mountain in northeastern Switzerland during the summer of 2021 with a "high-repetition-rate terawatt laser."

They set up this 1.5 meter by 8 meter laser, weighing in at over three tons, nearby a telecommunication tower that is struck by lightning over 100 times a year.

The scientists activated their laser as a lightning rod "with a propagation path passing in the vicinity of the top of the [telecommunication] tower" during thunderstorms, as seen here:

\u201cLaser beam used to successfully divert lightning strikes!\nA laser lightning rod has been placed at a Swiss mountain top to protect telecommunication towers! The laser is 6x more effective than standard lightning rods! \u26a1\ufe0f\n#TechNews #laser #lightning\u201d
— Digital Daze (@Digital Daze) 1673977526

The telecommunication tower, itself equipped with a lightning rod, was struck by 16 lightning bolts between July 21 and Sept. 30, 2021. Only four of these strikes occurred during the 6.3 hours the scientists had their laser operational and targeting the thunderclouds above.

In all four cases, the laser reportedly steered the lightning discharges.

According to the Guardian, the laser steers the lightning flashes by "creating an easier path for the electrical discharge to flow along."

"When very high power laser pulses are emitted into the atmosphere, filaments of very intense light form inside the beam," Jean-Pierre Wolf, one of the study's authors, told Sky News. "These filaments ionise nitrogen and oxygen molecules in the air, which release electrons that are free to move. This ionised air, called plasma, becomes an electrical conductor."

The scientists indicated that snapshots of one of the events showed "that the lightning strike initially follows the laser path over most of the initial 50 m distance."

According to the study, this achievement "will lead to progress in lightning protection and lightning physics."

The Hill reported that there were nearly 198 million lighting events in the U.S. in 2022, which altogether claimed the lives of 19 people. The ability to divert and/or steer lightning could therefore be lifesaving.

"This work paves the way for new atmospheric applications of ultrashort lasers and represents an important step forward in the development of a laser based lightning protection for airports, launchpads or large infrastructures," wrote the researchers.

Whereas the "laser conditions" in this experiment had a length of at least 30 meters, Sky News noted that future devices could extend a ten-meter lightning rod by 500 meters, offering far more protection.

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Prominent news outlet rushes to connect fatal lightning strike outside White House to climate change



After lightning struck outside the White House — resulting in the deaths of three people — Reuters published a story connecting the incident to climate change.

What is the background?

Four people were seriously injured last Thursday when lightning struck them in Lafayette Square, just north of the White House.

Unfortunately, three of the four people died. Those who died included a Wisconsin couple who were celebrating their 56th wedding anniversary, according to the Washington Post, and a 29-year-old from Los Angeles.

What did Reuters report?

The fatal lightning strike is a "climate warning," according to Reuters.

Reuters reported:

Scientists say that climate change is increasing the likelihood of lightning strikes across the United States, after lightning struck at a square near the White House, leaving three people dead and one other in critical condition.

The hot, humid conditions in Washington, D.C., on Thursday were primed for electricity. Air temperatures topped out at 94 degrees Fahrenheit (34 degrees Celsius) – or 5F (3C) higher than the 30-year normal maximum temperature for Aug. 4, according to the National Weather Service. More heat can draw more moisture into the atmosphere, while also encouraging rapid updraft – two key factors for charged particles, which lead to lightning.

The news outlet, however, did not cite any actual scientists.

The only data cited was a 2014 study published in a science journal that claimed the frequency of lightning increases as the global temperature increases.

Scientists, however, believe that lightning has existed for billions of years — at least. One thus wonders how lightning is connected to climate change if it has always existed on Earth, or how frequency of lightning can be evidence of climate change when lightning has not been tracked for most of Earth's history.

Anything else?

According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, being struck by lightning is incredibly rare. The odds of being struck, the CDC says, are less than 1 in 1 million in any given year.

Dying from a lightning strike is even more rare: Only about 10% of those struck between 2006 and 2021 died.

13-year-old girl struck by lightning in Chicago: Report



A 13-year-old girl was supposedly struck by lightning in Chicago on Wednesday afternoon.

Reports say that the strike happened while the girl and her family were standing outside the Garfield Park Conservatory, one of the largest greenhouses in the United States, which is located about 20 minutes west of downtown Chicago. The area was under a severe thunderstorm watch at the time of the incident.

A spokesman from a Chicago fire department confirmed that the unidentified girl was transported to Stroger Hospital following the lightning strike and was said to be in critical condition. No new information regarding her condition has since been released.

According to a report from WBBM-TV, an ice cream truck vendor, who was packing up his belongings and preparing to return home for the day, was in the area when the lightning strike occurred. The man told WBBM-TV that a storm front blew in suddenly while the girl and her family were in the conservatory parking lot. He then "heard a crack" and thought that lightning had "hit a tree." However, he then heard the sound of fire trucks and saw emergency medical teams rush the young girl away in an ambulance.

Though the chances of a person being struck by lightning are remote, they are not as rare as some might think. The National Weather Service claims that approximately 43 people die from a lightning strike each year, but it also states that only 10% of lightning strike victims die, suggesting that the number of people struck by lightning in any given year is closer to 430. NWS lists an individual's chances of being struck in a given year at about one in 1.2 million.

FACT CHECK: Viral Image Showing A Tornado And Lightning Strike Next To An Oil Rig In Texas Is Altered

The image is digitally altered