A few lesser strikes before this kicked off what I've called an electrical extravaganza near Eloy, but this rapid-fire, three-stroke series of discharges early in the lengthy train of cores gave me a hint that the night would be something special. Whether the mountain itself was it, or the flashes struck right behind it, that was a place I'm glad not to have been camping or hiking on a juiced-up … [Read more...]
Small Supercell Approaching 385
A few hours after a frantic intercept of a large, messy supercell that (for me) was briefly tornadic before it got away, it was time to let a few hours elapse and await further storm potential. Along came a small one! Even with an updraft that was narrower than usual, this classic supercell had so many of the textbook features: (small) wall cloud, rear-flank downdraft, vault region on the north … [Read more...]
Desert Mountain Sundown
At deep zoom, a delightfully complex cloud mix and landscape below combined to compose a unique sunset scene in the southwestern New Mexico desert. The last of the day's storms in the region had died away a couple hours before, leaving convective detritus, comfortably cool outflow, and disappointment at lack of lightning-shooting opportunities in the sunset light and beyond. However, that sense … [Read more...]
Grand Canyon, Electrified
Several minutes deeper into twilight, and following a singular, loud blast into one of the Grand Canyon's natural amphitheaters, the increasingly dense rain core and surrounding terrain lit up with another cloud-to-ground discharge into the canyon. This delicate yet dangerous beauty had a bonus: a cloud-to-air flash above that was nearly parallel for about half the visible distance before … [Read more...]
New Mexico Mountain Multicell
A late-season cold front and its easterly boundary-layer flow helped to move moisture from Gulf of Mexico through the gaps in mountains of west Texas and southern New Mexico, kickstarting the southwestern desert "monsoon" season a bit early, as June spilled into July. After an essentially nonexistent wet season in 2020, 2021 would offer a long and productive summer of convection in New Mexico … [Read more...]
Three-Spark Boomer
Within just a few seconds, three CGs popped the countryside along the New Mexico/Oklahoma state line. The orientation of these flashes ensured a long report of thunder, as the nearest one sounded first, followed by the one behind it, then the one at left, all in a continuous cacophony of rumbles and booms across those High Plains. The southeastward-moving storm had a peculiar tendency to stay … [Read more...]
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