Here’s a closer look at the storm May 9 as most of the precipitation slid to the northeast.
While Alethea and I bide our time waiting for an optimum departure for the Plains for our Tornado Alley storm chase, Florida’s Space Coast has finally had some rain. It’s been ridiculously dry here, so any rain is welcome. It’s been kind of fun to have lightning to go along with it.
This storm on May 9 wasn’t particularly powerful, and most of the rain slid by my location. But as storm cells merged, their structure evolved in an eerie and spectacular way. I snapped a few photos — see them below. Later, I tried to get lightning but went out a little late for the show.
This storm complex followed another day of storms. I noticed a couple of lightning crawlers as the rain approached May 8 and wondered if I could capture one in slow motion with a GoPro. This video is the result. The high frame rate leads to a lower resolution, so the quality isn’t great. I cropped it as a vertical short because it seemed like the best way to frame it. I’d love to try shooting one of these slow-motion lightning videos at night. It would be even nicer to have a really high-end high-speed camera (like the kind the chasers use in my novel Zap Bang), but you can’t have everything!
Usually, if I get on a great, sparky supercell in the Plains, I prefer to do a time-lapse video. You can see some on my YouTube channel. Please subscribe to get the latest videos as I post them.
Coming soon, I hope: storms in Tornado Alley!
