
Mother Nature lit up the skies around the San Francisco Bay Area Tuesday — electrifying local structures, like SF’s Sutro Tower.
The Bay Area has again been hammered by another atmospheric river that began rolling in late Monday morning. By Tuesday, hail and strong gusts of winds were reported throughout San Francisco. (Trash bins became mesmerizing dancers as they footed along the street, pushed by the wind; people [like myself] had to do a double take when ice pellets began building up in outdoor flower pots.)
Satellite🛰️showing a large area of low pressure out over the Pacific. This will be our next rain maker tomorrow (Wednesday).#cawx pic.twitter.com/ERcUQijP9X
— NWS Bay Area 🌉 (@NWSBayArea) January 11, 2023
Among the early week’s weather extremes was lightning jolting parts of Northern California. And a shared timelapse showing lighting hitting the fork-like prongs of San Francisco’s Sutro Towers.
Don’t go licking @SutroTower today. Trust me on this. ⚡️👅⚡️ pic.twitter.com/8dWJJJpuzE
— Kelley Cutler (@NutCheese) January 10, 2023
“Don’t go licking [SutroTower] today,” Kelley Cutler sheepishly writes in a tweet including a gorgeously filmed timelapse-turned-GIF showing at least one lighting bolt strike the tower, which was built in 1971. “Trust me on this.”
Similarly, an image captured by Twitter user Alexander Polis, who also took a video of the lightning hitting the tower, made a still photo of the strike, showing lightning hitting the tower.
Sutro tower being struck by lightning! #SF #CAwx pic.twitter.com/EvcVi3WOHF
— Alexander Polis (@alexis2044) January 10, 2023
As KTVU noted, Twitter user @sanandreafault then shared the image in a tweet with the caption: “U ok @SutroTower?”
The avatar behind the “Sutro Tower” account then commented, “I am ok friend. Thanks for taking the storm off.”
Sutro Tower also has a humanizing, boundary-setting commentary on Cutler’s tweet — “I would say don’t lick me in general.”
Consent is hot; this 977-foot-tall radio tower knows this — even after being electrocuted.
Feature image: Courtesy of Twitter via Kelley Cutler