Thunderstorm With Mammatus Clouds

Yesterday, we were sandwiched between two thunderstorms; one 20 miles directly south and the other about 20 miles to the east. The back end of the storm to the east had cloud cover that reached overhead, with distinct mammatus clouds, accompanied by a curving cloud on the back end. We could see the storm to the south peeking below the high clouds from the storm to the east, and it was as surreal sight to say the least. Here are a few photos.

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What A Severe Thunderstorm Looks Like

The National Weather Service issued a severe thunderstorm warning for Lake County, Ohio – and we certainly got a severe thunderstorm. There was the sound of continuous thunder for many minutes before the rain came. When the rain arrived, it was with high winds and lightning, but the sound of the thunder was drowned out by the sound of the rain. Here’s a video I took from inside my garage, hoping I would stay dry. I got drenched! The rain and wind builds as the video progresses. Toward the end, the wind and rain was coming in straight at me so I decided it was time to stop recording.



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The Birth Of A Thunderstorm

There was a cold front that was expected to move over the area yesterday, and with the temperatures hot and the air very humid, thunderstorms were expected. As the clouds began to bubble up in the afternoon, we decided to drive to the nearby Mentor Headlands Beach to watch the storm roll in. We had to wait about an hour and a half for the front to come in, but it was well worth it. We were able to see the storm from its early stages of thickening clouds and crepuscular rays to a full blown, massive thunderstorm. As the storm moved in off Lake Erie, the wind picked up considerably, blowing sand which stung our skin. The clouds and winds dropped in at the eastern edge of the beach, over the Fairport Harbor West lighthouse, causing the gulls lounging there to quickly scatter. As we were on the western side of the beach, this was the perfect signal to run for cover. We easily made it to our car before the full force of the wind and rain hit.


Here are some photos and a very short video that I am sure cloud and storm lovers will enjoy! (Click on any image for a larger view.)

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Thunderstorm Over Lake Erie

We decided to go for a walk at Mentor Headlands State Park on the dunes trail. The sun was shining as we entered the parking lot but we noticed a patch of dark clouds looking over Lake Erie to the west. We were on the dunes trail for only a few minutes when we heard loud thunder and turned to see that the dark clouds had ballooned into a very large thunderstorm. Here’s a photo, taken from the dunes trail, looking west.(Click in image for a larger view.)

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Severe Storms And Lightning Strike

We've been in a pattern of severe thunderstorms over the last few days. Last night a storm moved in over Lake Erie and brought in very high winds and heavy rain. The video below shows the storm wind up in intensity as it moved through. The following day, there was more of the same. This time,  I captured a lightning strike. In the second video below, a section of the lightning bolt can be seen striking only a few hundred feet away. (A slow motion video of the lightning bolt is toward the end of the second video,  where the strike is more visible.)

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Lightning At Sunset

A strong line of thunderstorms moved through the area last night at sunset, bringing some heavy rains, big winds, and lots of lightning. I captured one lightning bolt that shot out from the edge of the storm as it moved into the area, the surrounding sky glowing orange from the setting sun. Here’s the photo.

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Thunderhead Rising

Thunderstorms moved in to Lake County Ohio this afternoon. I found myself momentarily between storm cells which allowed me to grab this photo of a thunderhead forming to the northwest, likely right off the lake shore. (Click on the photo for the full size.) 

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Thunderstorm Clouds Over Lake Erie

A thunderstorm popped up on Lake Erie just north of Mentor, and the billowing cloud tops were very visible from nearby higher elevations. After getting a photo of the clouds that were quickly rising in the sky, I decided to stop by Mentor Headlands Beach State Park to see if I could get a better view from the lake shore. Sadly, the cloud tops weren’t very visible from that vantage point, but I managed to get a few interesting photos of the storm as it continued to brew over the lake.

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Storm Clouds & Lightning

Last Friday, we had a severe thunderstorm move through, and as it approached, we saw some very ominous cloud formations. Here are two photos of the clouds, plus one photo of lighting that I grabbed from a short video I took of the storm as it rolled through.

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Early Morning Lightning Photo

A good thunderstorm and a very dark sky makes for a great opportunity for lightning photos. It also helps to have a protected area in which to stand to avoid getting hit by lightning while trying to grab a picture of it. Timing is also a big issue – if the camera shutter isn’t open the split second the lightning flashes, the shot is missed.

All those things came together very early this morning when a small thunderstorm moved through. The lightning and thunder diminished as the storm approached, though. Despite keeping the camera shutter open for several seconds per photo, only one forky flash of lightning popped into view within a period of about 30 minutes. Lucky for me, I had just opened the shutter and caught it. So, after taking over 350 pictures of this storm, I managed to get one decent shot. The photo is below. (The color of the sky has not been altered; the sky was just showing a little morning light, and the sky had a blue/purple cast.)

Click on photo for larger view

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The Birth of a Cumulonimbus and an Orange Sky

Strong storms moved through the area yesterday, and one that formed in Ashtabula county, which is just east of us, was clearly visible from our home in Lake County. That storm produced a cumulonimbus cloud which was beginning to form an anvil as it moved out of our range of view. The cloud top grew so large that even though the storm was moving into Pennsylvania while the sun was setting here, the sunlight reflected off the cloud top, creating a completely orange sky that was reported visible throughout most of Lake County and parts of the metro Cleveland area. Here are some photos, from beginning to end.

















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Severe Thunderstorm August 20, 2009 (Video)

I mentioned yesterday that we had two strong thunderstorms move through on August 20th . Here is the video of the second storm, as I promised.

The second storm was much stronger and lasted about 20 minutes. The direction of the wind and rain seemed to change several times, and there was plenty of lightning and thunder.

In order to get the video down to size for YouTube, I accelerated the video speed. The sound, however, is normal, to allow everyone to enjoy the sound of the rain and thunder.







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Thunderstorms Bring Ominous Clouds

We had two thunderstorms move through yesterday, the first bringing some dramatic clouds with the rain, the second very tumultuous with very heavy rain and winds. We lost a huge branch from our apple tree that was loaded with apples. I think the weight of the branch was too much for it to withstand the heavy winds.

As the first storm moved through, some very ominous, swirling clouds appeared. In one case, rain falling high in the sky was very evident as some breaks in the clouds appeared. I included many photos from the first storm below. I took video from the second storm, which brought lightning, thunder, and lots of swirling wind and rain. Stay tuned, that should follow in a few days.

But as the first storm moved through and the sky cleared, I noticed that one of the pictures had a very tiny black dot in it. Magnifying the image many times, I saw another black dot behind it in the same field of view. I am not quite sure what they are. Could it be two birds that got caught up in the tail of the storm? Since these objects were very high up in the sky, if they were birds, they had to be very big to show up in the image. I included those pictures below in case anyone has any other ideas as to what they could be. Did my camera catch my second “UFO” in less than a week - or just big birds or weird storm debris?

The storm moves in

Rain falling high in the sky

More Clouds

View of sky as "black objects" appear

Close up of black objects. Birds flying through the tail of storm, or something else?

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