Xref: utzoo sci.electronics:17079 rec.pyrotechnics:2232
Path: utzoo!utgpu!news-server.csri.toronto.edu!bonnie.concordia.ca!uunet!verifone!ed_l1
From: ed_l1@verifone.com
Newsgroups: sci.electronics,rec.pyrotechnics
Subject: Re: New Year's Eve idiocy: Plus Hawaiian Hurricanes!
Message-ID: <2525.2796c1e3@verifone.com>
Date: 18 Jan 91 19:37:39 GMT
References: <4655@wrgate.WR.TEK.COM>
Followup-To: sci.electronics
Organization: VeriFone Inc., Honolulu HI
Lines: 29

In article <4655@wrgate.WR.TEK.COM>, jeffw@midas.WR.TEK.COM (Jeff Winslow) writes:
> New Year's Eve brought the usual assortment of firecrackers, skyrockets,
> M-80s (I guess - bright and LOUD), and so forth. As I was enjoying the show
> (and giving thanks I live a good mile away from the jokers with the M-80s), 
> I was startled by a green flash from a nearby substation. This thing was
> BRIGHT - so bright it effectively washed out all other lights for dozens of
> blocks on either side. The flash itself appeared to be about a half a city
> block wide. There were two of them, about 10 seconds apart. And funny thing -
> a lot of people's lights went out. :-)  Anyway, at the time I assumed some
> fool had thrown a wire rope into the substation, or something like. But later
> I wondered - with so much powdered metal in many pyro formulas, and 
> particulate matter (conductive metal oxides?) left after their explosion,
> is it possible that a skyrocket of some sort exploding among the wires would
> alter the conductivity of air enough to let such an arc happen?
> 
> I still think the cable explanation, or something similar, is most likely.
> It was quite a climax for the New Year's Eve "display"!
> 
> 							Jeff Winslow

In Hawaii, during hurricane Iwa in ('82?), we had high winds, lightning, 
rain, and every once in a while a huge, no _*HUGE*_ green flash that lit
up the entire island (I live on the windward side, they were coming over
the mountains!)!  Later, the media informed us that they were, "transformer
explosions," whatever THAT is....  And yes, we lost our electricity, for
about a week. :-(

I think, also, that I heard somewhere that there is a lot of ionization 
in the air during intense storms... could relate to your situation.