It’s funny to me what gets “diagnosed” as lightning strikes. It seems to me the average homeowner thinks the only two afflictions known to trees are oak wilt and lightning. Hopefully, this simple post 
will shed some light for many of you wanting to know if your tree was struck by lightning, and if so, what you should do about it.
The main thing you need to look for is a narrow wound that stretches the length of the trunk from the upper canopy to the ground. Typically, lightning doesn’t strike the tree half way down the trunk. It hits somewhere out near the tip of the canopy. Then, the charge travels down the trunk of the tree into the ground. In this picture, the strike barely blew-off the outer layer of bark. Continue reading Tree Struck by Lightning? What a Lightning Strike Really Looks Like.