The second supercell to roll eastward past us that dreamy night was nearly as structurally alluring as the first, and even more electrically active! Strands and loops of lightning flashed for miles and miles across intracloud chasms of clear air, overcoming incredible resistance to conductivity, and doing so many times per minute over a span of half an hour or more. This is but a minuscule fraction of dozens and dozens of shots of both storms in their darkness-busting brilliance; truly, I could have taken hundreds had I not stopped often simply to gaze in slack-jawed amazement and appreciation. Only the shelf cloud at bottom, riding this supercell’s rear-flank gust front in a great pivoting motion, would stop the mind-blowing show by floating overhead within another 5–10 minutes. Supercells are the most electrically active storms per unit area in the world, as this one exemplified.
Alma NE (20 Jun 11) Looking NNW
40.1043, -99.3717