A Storm-Chasing San Antonio Weatherman Almost Got Fried by Lightning — on Video

click to enlarge A Storm-Chasing San Antonio Weatherman Almost Got Fried by Lightning — on Video
Twitter / @Justin_Horne

You've got to hand it to storm chasers: they've got guts.

In addition to putting themselves at risk for flash floods, gale-force winds and storm surges, they've also got to worry about lightning strikes.

The latter resulted in a "holy shit" moment for KSAT weatherman Justin Horne as he reported live on Hurricane Laura, which came ashore near the Texas-Louisiana border last night.

A video tweeted by Horne shows him leaping out of the way as lightning appears to strike a tree directly behind him.

"That's not good," Horne says with a nervous laugh as he jogs away from the smoldering tree. "We're going to get out of the way of that."

In addition to Horne's guts, we've got to admire his calm demeanor. Speaking for the Current newsroom, we'd have probably unleashed a stream of words that would have resulted in steep FCC fines had any of us been that close to being lit up by Mother Nature.

Stay on top of San Antonio news and views. Sign up for our Weekly Headlines Newsletter.