As the forward-flank core of an increasingly messy supercell approached, cloud-to-ground (CG) lightning mostly remained closer to the mesocyclone, unseen off the left edge. The bright flash at right, from the northeastern reaches of the forward-flank core, and closer to us, was an exception, and a warning sign. Feathery tendrils of precipitation, seen here in front of the bright CG, would have been clue enough to exit the scene had they been noticed in real time, in the brevity of the flash. Instead, it took a few minutes more for the light rain to begin falling, when almost simultaneously: a spark flew off the tripod handle I was grabbing to put away, my hair stood on end, the vehicle antennae sprouted a corona discharge, and a nearby barbed-wire fence started buzzing and throwing sparks. We were, rather alarmingly, in a tremendous, localized electric field! An anvil CG could go off any second, right there. We packed up fast, leapt into the vehicle and exited the scene just in time, before one did.
3 SW Lockett TX (23 Apr 89) Looking SW
34.0699, -99.4103