Incredible lightning...

[Rob Williams]

I have never seen a lightning storm so powerful before, in person or on TV:
<object height="385" width="640">
<embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/gCZlApOIifU&hl=en&fs=1&color1=0xe1600f&color2=0xfebd01&hd=1" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" allowscriptaccess="always" allowfullscreen="true" height="385" width="640"></object>

Check out how long it lasts... that's insane!

 

[Merlin]

Clash of the Titans

 

[b1lk1]

We just had a nearly identical storm this past Sunday. We had one period of about 15 seconds where the sky was lit like daylight and otherwise the lightning was the same as this video.

 

[evilives34]

and think just one of those bolts could power your home for years if you could store it

 

[2Tired2Tango]

I have never seen a lightning storm so powerful before, in person or on TV:

Check out how long it lasts... that's insane!

Nice light show... Looks like two fronts, on opposite charges, merging off in the distance. Most of the lightning is cloud to cloud, with only a couple of ground strikes which generally indicates merging or splitting of storms.

Where I am, sandwiched in between two major lakes, the upper atmospheric crosscurrents often create light shows like this one... although this would be a 10 on our scales too. But we get a lot of ground strikes. 30 to 50 is typical with a storm moving through.

Want something that really grabs your attention... try standing at the crosswalk when lightning takes out the stop sign on the opposite corner... Now THAT's entertainment!

 

[Merlin]

Ahh yes, reminds me of Florida

 

[Rob Williams]

Bill and 2Tired, that's intense... I had no idea storms like this were actually "common".

and think just one of those bolts could power your home for years if you could store it

Tell me about it! We need a freaking home-version of the Flux Capacitor.

 

[2Tired2Tango]

Bill and 2Tired, that's intense... I had no idea storms like this were actually "common".

I'd say we get one like that a year. There are usually several of the more ordinary type thunderstorms during the summer months. Our local weather service doesn't even count it as a thunderstorm unless there are multiple gound strikes. One year we had a thunderstorm while it was snowing, in March... now that was weird.

But yes, thunderstorms like that do happen reasonably often in some areas. I'd estimate the photographers live in an area where they aren't terribly common... hence their shock and awe....

 

[2Tired2Tango]

We just had a nearly identical storm this past Sunday. We had one period of about 15 seconds where the sky was lit like daylight and otherwise the lightning was the same as this video.

Was that the one that took out all the power in Toronto?

 

[Kougar]

Very beautiful! I love stuff like this, although it's better with the sound effects to go with the light show.

You don't see storms anything like that or with that kind of intensity around here. Not that we've been getting much of any storms at all, mind you... we're missing almost a full year's worth of rainfall since 2007.

 

[slugbug]

Would have been a better video if you could hear the thunder too.

 

[2Tired2Tango]

Would have been a better video if you could hear the thunder too.

Quite often with high altitude lightning like in the video there is very little or no thunder at all. The thunder clap we hear during ground strikes is actually caused by instantaneous heating of whatever's being hit.

 

[2Tired2Tango]

In case you're interested, here's what lightning looks like in my neck of the wooods ...
This was taken a couple of blocks from my apt building on August 9th.