The last of the “7-11 Lightning” series, featuring a seemingly ordinary summertime multicell firing brilliant discharges for great distances in assorted directions, concludes with this wickedly forked, split strike. The leader traveled from somewhere deep inside the storms’ middle–upper levels, out of the cloud, through clear air, more cloud, more clear air, then finally a rain foot of a downburst, splitting many times along the way. Two of the splits grounded simultaneously, lighting them both. Those in that rain foot, hearing the eardrum-compressing blast of thunder, likely had no clue that despite the heavy precipitation and lightning, there was no storm directly above them.
Norman, OK (11 Jul 13) Looking SSW
35.2037, -97.3835