LIGHTNING FROM A LONE SEVERE STORM
On Thursday July 29, 2021 an isolated severe warned cell dropped south from portions of northern Virginia along the coastal areas and into portions of Hampton Roads. The thunderstorm was being reported to have a wind damage path and dropping large hail on its trek southward. I watched radar hoping it would hold together and make it close enough to Hampton Roads. As luck would have it, it did hold together but was beginning to weaken as it did so. I went to north Suffolk looking directly into the area of the storm where all the lightning strike data was on radar and managed to catch some really decent shots with several bolts into clear air and with the entire western side of the sky cloud free, you can see the stars in a few of the shots if you zoom in. Been having a lightning photography drought for me this year, and this got the monkey off my back!
I’ve always seemed to miss the storms like this in the area as it can be difficult to find an area with enough of an open sky with few distractions and obstacles to be able to see the storm structure and the bolts so clean. I’ve been at this for 20 years this year and have just recently, last year, managed to catch structure and lightning like this. It was beautiful to witness and capture. Wish I could have managed to frame things a bit better, but the area I was shooting from is limited in space and a solid, sturdy ground to set the tripod. Anyway, hope you enjoy and hit the like button at the bottom, it’s the heart icon! Thanks for stopping in!
Setting sun as the storm approaches
Crawler and CG lightning up the sky
James River Bridge straight ahead under the bolt
The buoy in the bottom left washed a shore a few months back. The light still charges during the day
Very active area of the storm was the western side
This area just kept throwing out the CGs while the anvil turned out the crawlers
Clearly the rain shaft had moved over Newport News at this time as the storm was dying quickly now
The last bolt from the storm. It literally was the very last bolt seen