WESTMINSTER Colorado - A motorcyclist was killed after he was struck by lightning while driving on U.S. 36 Wednesday afternoon.
The Westminster Fire Department says 46-year-old Gary Missi of Longmont was struck while driving between Church Ranch Boulevard and Sheridan Boulevard at around 5:15 p.m.
After Missi was hit he lost control and crashed against the center median. He ended up 150 yards from where the lightning hit the asphalt.
Rescue workers could not revive Missi and he was pronounced dead on scene.
The lightning left a crater in the asphalt about 18 inches long, eight inches wide, and four inches deep.
CDOT has repaired the damage to the road.
U.S. 36 was shut down to one lane for about two hours because of the accident.
Robert Gift, a member of the Lightning Data Center at St. Anthony Hospital in Denver, says although many cyclists and motorcyclists believe they are safe from lightning, they are not. Gift says people on bikes and motorcycles aren't grounded.
Gift says although rubber is an excellent insulator of electrcity, tires can be compromised by the millions of volts of electricity in lightning.
Automobiles are also not grounded. However, being inside a car is safer because a direct hit will most likely travel harmlessly around the occupants through the metal exterior and frame and exit to ground, Gift says.
I've never even heard of something like that! Lightning blowing holes in the asphalt? 
Man, I don't even know how many times I've been down that stretch of road. And 36 down to 1 lane for 2 hrs at 5:15? God the traffic must have been backed up for 10 miles at the least. That wasn't even bad luck, that stretch of road has lighting poles which are both tall and grounded. Poor Gary must've ticked off somebody.
