Lightning hit my tree — is it going to die, and is it safe to be under?

A strip of bark blown off, usually spiraling down one side from the top toward the ground, sometimes with bark and wood thrown 50 feet or more across the yard and scorching at the edges of the exposed wood. Also look for a split trunk, blown-out soil or lifted turf at the base where the current exited through the roots, cracked limbs hanging in the canopy, and — several days later — leaves wilting and browning on one side while the rest of the tree looks untouched. Some strikes leave almost nothing visible: a thin line and a smell.

Within days