A Bolt from the Blue.

According to the Miami Herald, David Canales, a landscaper, was killed this past Thursday by lightning that came out of a clear blue sky. It’s a bizarre phenomenon called a "bolt from the blue":

Dan Dixon, a meteorologist with the National Weather Service in Miami, said that when Canales was hit, a typical afternoon storm was forming but nowhere near the area.

Weather data showed that lightning activity picked up north of Pinecrest shortly before 1 p.m., as a storm gathered momentum and swept through Coral Gables and then downtown.

The bolts normally travel horizontally away from the storm and reach farther than typical lightning, then curve to the ground. . . .

Dixon said protecting yourself from such unexpected lightning is difficult.

”They are very unpredictable and very dangerous. We urge people to stay indoors even if you hear thunder only faintly in the distance,” Dixon said. “If you’re close enough to hear thunder, you’re close enough to be struck by lightning.”

The photo is from NOAA