Storms of Summer 2012

The problem I have with this topic can be described by the following photo:



That is a genuine photo of lightning in the Berg, taken from a cave near the Didima river below Thlanyako Pass (we camped at the nearby Didima campsite - not the flattest place on earth to pitch a tent )

The photo is unclear, hazy and quite honestly it wouldn't be that difficult to take a good clear photo and add a fake lightning bolt - it would probably look considerably better than this photo!

Anyway, my actual entry is entitled "Roland's View" and is the view of the Cathedral range with a Cumulonimbus cloud in the distant background - the theme is storms of summer 2012, that is a photo of a thundercloud taken on the last weekend of summer 2012, so close enough

I would have to argue if that is in fact a cumulonimbus cloud and also that the image fits the theme. It does not have the characteristic anvil shaped head, and as rather far in the distance. This shot while a bit fuzzy, is more to the theme, and well done for actually capturing even a small amount of the flash.

A quick word on the cloud which Ghaz uploaded to the summer storms gallery (so not the one in the thread).

It looks to me that this cloud is a cumulus castellanus cloud. The cloud has successfully grown through the non-surface inversion layer which is caused by subsidence in the anticyclone. Getting through the inversion layer is the hard part in storm development. In this case the cloud has grown vertically quite quickly but has been sheared off horizontally by stronger winds above the inversion layer - leading to that long trail of cloud. The air above the non-surface inversion is extremely dry and so the pioneer clouds building into this layer typically mix with the dry air and dilute (a process called entrainment) quite quickly. It doesn't help development when there is strong horizontal wind shear to blow the moist air away. In this sense, the cloud is like a very leaky pipe. It takes successive efforts for the cloud to build and not all efforts are successful. I don't know what happened in this case though perhaps Ghaz kept an eye on it.
I would say it does fit the theme because it is 'work in progress' for storm development.

Thanks Mnt_Tiska

Intrepid can make a ruling as to whether or not Roland's View qualifies...

Royal Natal

Nice Frosty Ice. Is it the same strike, as the bottom one looks to be the "skeleton" of the other?

That is an incredible photo by Frosty!

The best I have ever done on lightning was my first ever successful lightning pic (when I was 16), taken when I had just bought my first digital camera:



Taken from my front veranda at World's View, just outside Pietermaritzburg, I have captured lightning about 20 times since, but never looking nearly as good as the first one.