Recently there have been some good storms rolling through producing fantastic lightning. Unfortunately that has also come with tornadoes, hail, and high winds for some. Thankfully for me it’s been rain along with thunder and lightning with only a few small branches to pick up but the light shows as they’re moving by have been amazing. Unlike something I’ve seen in a really long time. The timing has been perfect with the shows arriving just as the sun would set on nights where I didn’t have to work the next day. Often the lightning just appeared to crawl among the clouds spreading out over the sky with very little noise leaving me in awe at the spectacular sight overhead.
For this latest series of storms, I was working on some projects around the house after work on a Friday afternoon and began getting alerts on my phone. As the afternoon turned into evening, my wife called to me saying I should take a look at the radar. Several severe thunderstorm and tornado warnings had been issued for areas several hundred miles away heading in our direction. I continued working on my projects now beginning to think about possible locations to watch them as they continued in my direction.
The first storm cell was overhead while I quickly ate dinner. What I thought would be the better show was a cold front right on it’s tail. That’s the one I wanted to be taking pictures of. Grabbing my camera and gear I headed for a nearby spot and set up. Just as I got the camera into place the rain began falling again. I was too late! Packing up I moved to a sheltered area still outside watching the storm.
The rain began to pour and the wind started blowing fiercely. I continued to back further and further under cover but the wind was now blowing rain everywhere. I opened up the umbrella hoping to keep the camera dry as the wind started to grab at it. My umbrella began to bend backwards briefly, offering little cover from the rain. At that moment the sirens started to blare and my phone was now buzzing with a tornado warning. Theses storms have had a history of tornadoes and strong straight-line winds and could very well produce either now. Well this seems like a brilliant idea I thought to myself.
Unable to pull up the weather radar quickly on my phone I decided to call my wife to see what the news was reporting. Unfortunately the television was currently unable to broadcast leaving me wondering what I should do. I kept watching the sky trying to decipher what to do seeing only heavy rains. Soon the rain began to ease up and the sky turned more yellow. Here’s where a tornado could show up. As I continued talking with my wife I was trying to determine if there was a direction I could look for one and possibly capture it on camera. It was unlikely that a tornado would pass right where I was but maybe I could see one from here either to the North or East.
The sirens quieted once again and the rain began to let up. Soon there was light near the horizon. This could turn into a spectacular sunset now! Glad I stayed here. With a light shower now I began to explore under the cover of my umbrella, searching for a great composition to capture this sunset. Every once in awhile there would be a bright flash behind me with a low rumble. I would turn around and watch for a short time wondering if better shots existed behind me. Continuing to focus on the setting sun, I chose a spot and got the camera ready, snapping a few pictures as the sun sank below the horizon. Unfortunately the sunset I had imagined never really materialized so I packed up and decided to head to another place and see if there were any nice views of the passing storm.
Arriving at a nearby lake I was in luck. Lightning was crisscrossing through the sky in an amazing show. I once again set up the camera and began working on the best settings to photograph the splendor before me. There was still a fair amount of light in the sky making it challenging to actually get good pictures of this lightning. I continued to work on different settings along with the focus on my lens. Fortunately these storms continued like this for a long time so I had time to find the best camera setup. I was able to get some nice photos filled with lightning.
This lightning would begin in one place and just crawl across the sky, sometimes making its way from one horizon to another. Over the next hour I continued to take pictures of this spectacle in front of me, adjusting as it got darker and darker transitioning from day to night. The temperatures were now dropping and so was the humidity reminding me that I should have grabbed a jacket before I left. Typically I carry one in my vehicle but had taken it out a week earlier and haven’t put it back yet. The show I was watching was enough of a distraction I didn’t really care that I was beginning to shiver a little. Eventually these storms moved east far enough I decided it was time to return home as the best pictures were now behind me. What a great beginning to the weekend!
