This website is designed and maintained by myself. I am a qualified Meteorologist and a long-term enthusiast of extreme weather. As a personal hobby I have been collecting footage of thunderstorms and the weather since 1997, and I thought it would be more interesting to show it to the world rather than sit on it. Primarily my main focus is UK thunderstorm photography, partly for my own thrill, but also for unlocking the secrets of the atmosphere around us that we all take for granted. The footage I have collected shows the kind of show the typical British thunderstorm is capable of giving, depending on it's type and formation.

The Meaning of "Ravenstorm"
My cyberspace alias used to be “Raven”. So instead of "Thunderstorm" I promoted the site under the pseudonym "Ravenstorm" and it caught on. It also makes a good brand name along with the logos. I designed the site around a dark, gothic theme in suit of the supernatural ambience, uncontrollability and misunderstanding thunderstorms have about them. A force of nature to be respected as it is a force to be reckoned with.

What's the website got to offer?
The Thunderstorms section displays sample-quality footage of thunderstorm photography. Each storm has it's own page and basic interpretation of the environmental synoptics and the characteristics of the storm. There is a Highlights page which picks out the best storms from the archive. Current Weather is where you can observe a few basic charts of current weather conditions in the UK and Europe supplied automatically by meteorologica.co.uk. Please note the data may not be accurate or up to date and is unmonitored.
Know Your Storms is a section where the physical aspects of thunderstorms and meteorology are explained on a basic level..
The Weather Photos section (will soon) hold the best of my general weather photography such as clouds and optical phenomena, where also the full quality images are held offline if anyone wants to purchase them for licensed use.
The About Seltzer section is a page where you can learn about my attitude to the weather.
The Website Forum is where you can interact with other weather enthusiasts on my network.

What's to come?
Apart from finishing off the content, my future plans for the website are to start constructing focused analysis’s on exceptional thunderstorm events. Also, any suggestions to enhance the website (without involving digging into complex java-scripts) are welcome and you can contact me on the Contact page or post your suggestions on the message board.

On the photography side of things my aim is always going to be to expand the archive of weather photography I hold and shoot the hoop for more severe thunderstorm shots, potentially aboard. A personal ambition of mine is to achieve some dramatic Volcanic photography, such as lava fountains and volcanic lightning. Of course this is a lot more difficult to achieve, but what’s the point in having an ambition if it’s easy to do?

Enjoy the site

Mark Seltzer