Giant smoke spirals form after lighting lights wind turbine on fire

A wind turbine in Texas caught fire after being struck by lightning. Video shows how the rotor blade keeps turning and spirals of smoke form.

A strange smoke display appears in Texas on Friday after a thunderstorm struck a wind turbine blade near the small town of Crowell. Just a few seconds later, the blade caught fire as it continued to rotate causing an giant and unique-looking spiral of smoke behind the windmill.

The rotor blades are usually made of flamable fiberglass and reinforced plastic. So, it doesn't take long for the flames to spread to the rest of the windmill. Eventually, the entire wind turbine was destroyed.

The video puts into perspective just how dangerous lightning can be. A single discharge can produce up to 400,000 amps—conventional house-hold ovens usually have about 20 to 60 amps of current. Bolts can also reach temperatures that are higher than on the sun's surface.