RE: Static hair could warn of a lightning strike! How to stay safe
The most dangerous lightning strikes to me are those that are "bolts out of the blue" as I have always called them. Perfect skies and nothing that would make you think lightning was about to strike.
I have never been struck by lightening but a bolt out of the blue hit a pine tree near me one time and scared the devil out of me.
It would make sense the hair would stand up in those type situations, since the air is highly charged with positive electrons possibly creating a magnetic type situation you have with static electricity.
I remember seeing a documentary years ago that showed some lighting bolts may go from ground to cloud, they used real high speed film and reviewed the footage frame by frame and it did appear to start at the ground and go up if they weren't playing games with the editing.
Goodness! I suppose you can take sensible precautions, but if your number's up, there's nothing you can do about it.
My sister had a weird experience years ago, when she visited the Isle of Man with a friend. They were walking along a beach on a sunny day, when a small ball of light whizzed past them. They were deep in conversation, and her friend didn't even notice it. Maybe it was lightning.