Lightning over water

Lightning flashes over the Atlantic Ocean, as seen looking east toward Cocoa Beach and Cape Canaveral, Florida, from across the Banana River. Photo by Chris Kridler, chriskridler.com

Crawler

A lightning crawler and CGs on August 17, 2011, as seen looking east toward Cocoa Beach and Cape Canaveral, Florida. Photo by Chris Kridler, chriskridler.com

I love to see an isolated cell light up right at sunset, and over water, it’s even better. This was more of a cluster of cells, and they produced a few nice bolts before they croaked. I’m sure I missed a few as I drove over Merritt Island and got into position on the Banana River to take photos (and donate a quart of blood to the mosquitoes).

The lightning may have been sparse, but it was pretty. I’ve found sometimes the best crawlers happen in the dying phases of the storm, and sometimes you have to wait several minutes between flashes to nab them. But this storm hovering off Cape Canaveral really stopped when it stopped producing, allowing me to get several more mosquito bites as I painstakingly held the shutter open for 20 or 30 seconds at a time, hoping against hope. Oh, well. Comes with the territory.

Cloud-to-ground bolts

Nice cloud-to-ground bolts on August 17, as seen looking east toward Cocoa Beach and Cape Canaveral, Florida. Photo by Chris Kridler, chriskridler.com