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THUNDERSTORM 0049
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Date: 07-07-2004 This was one of the most energetic night time storms I’ve filmed yet and the only storm where I know I’ve captured the actual initial discharge. It developed directly overhead in the slack flow at around 1:00am shortly after T0048 had dissipated. Like T0048, this cell was associated with an upper-level trough preceding a Spanish Plume low-system to the south. In fact the plume was way to the south and still over northern France at the time this was occurring, so it was probably a completely un-associated area of PV maxima. At first the cell was electrically silent but the precipitation was torrential overhead. With this and also knowing that this was a thunderstorm-generating system I decided to put the camera up in hope of catching something else for the night.
Shortly after I did so, the first discharge of the cell (initiation discharge) happened in the form of an overhead C-C followed by a great crash of thunder. Then within more or less every minute there was a discharge, mostly C-Cs, some high amp and some low. The high-amp discharges were very bright and the thunder was often bassy. This showed strong and steady development occurring within the cell.
The discharge shown above was very bright and aggressive and as a result had a very loud thunder even from a distance. The following discharge was beautiful and tame in comparison showing a slight orb-fashion shape in the C-C.
The line between the updraught and downdraught was starting to become evident as C-C spiders and crawlers danced just in between them.
I was confident there were minimal C-G strikes as the storm initiated just as it left the area, giving a clear view of the whole main cloud base. The storm was visible for more than an hour and a half as it slowly creeped its way northwards giving some immense displays of C-C, often with “call and response” characteristics between two parts of the storm. The silhouette of a strong bubbly updraught-base was also revealed with every discharge situated at the rear of the storm (back-fed).
This next one was a rather good discharge, as well as lighting up the underside of the updraught base a long C-C spider-crawler shot from left to right and then connected with the ground halfway though.
This was one of the best night-time storms I’ve filmed after T0011 and T0024. It was very easy to film as the storm cell had already left the area (no blustery rain to contend with), but in a slack flow left plenty of action to see. It was very organised and local, and it was heading northwards which meant no changes of camera angle required from a north-facing room. The entire line of cells dissipated around about the time I stopped filming at 2:50am.
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