Throwback: Stunning Footage Captured of Lightning Exploding Tree in Lassen Park

A stunning video captured in the Lassen Park’s Kohm Yah-mah-nee Visitor Center shows just how powerful lightning can be.

Park visitor Akunzhanou Dastan was filming in the visitor center when perfect timing had him capturing the moment a lightning bolt hits the top of a tree outside, exploding the tree and launching fragments into the air. See the video:

“Lightning forms when a thunderhead cloud, which is negatively charged at its bottom, interacts with positively charged particles on the earth’s surface,” Lassen Park wrote in a Facebook post. “These areas of positive charge tend to concentrate in tall objects — like the red fir trees behind the Kohm Yah-mah-nee Visitor Center.”

The power of nature is intense! This video shows how dangerous lightning can be and is a warning to all outdoor adventurers to stay inside when lightning is in the forecast. Luckily, no one was in the immediate vicinity when the strike hit.