Corrected entry: When Marty shows Doc the flyer from 1985 about saving the clock tower, this gives them the time that the clock will be struck by lightning, 10:04pm on that coming Saturday (11/12/55). However, the main problem here is that the time is only given in hours and minutes, and since lightning moves at the speed of light, an entire lightning strike lasts only fractions of a second. Doc and Marty have no clue as to what second the lightning will strike during that minute, and it isn't given a thought. In reality this would cause a tremendous dilemma if the Delorean had to pass at a precise second. And since the clock on the tower lacked a second hand, they would need a sychronized watch to determine the second the strike occurs, even if they knew it. In the movie it is assumed the strike occurs at 10:04:00, which is fine, but for more realism they could've added a second hand to the clock to eliminate this plot hole. It would have been stuck in place as the other hands after the lightning strike.
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Correction: A second-hand isn't necessary. The second within the minute that the lightning strike occured could have been been determined by an examination of the inner workings of the clock (which stopped functioning after the strike). Such a noteworthy piece of trivia would likely have been included in the Hill Valley Preservation Society's flier. In fact, Doc states as much - that according to the flier the clock is struck at precisely 10:04pm.
JC Fernandez
Even if they examined the insides of the clock and reported the precise second of the lightning strike in the flier (which is itself improbable), they would only know the time down to the nearest second (and that's assuming the clock tower kept perfect time). 88 miles per hour is about 129 feet per second-at that speed, even being off by a few milliseconds would cause the lightning to miss the DeLorean entirely.