STORM CHASES AND IMAGES.
LIGHTNING RESEARCH UPDATES & REPORTS
LIGHTNING RESEARCH SPONSORSHIP THANKS TO MARK HAMILTON FROM HAMILTONPHOTONT.COM.AU DARWIN AUSTRALIA
Update 15 Jan 2012.
After a week or two of non-storm events things finally kicked into gear. Some nice easrly convective storms heralded a new day with widespread storms moving along the coast, rural and inland. Storms reformed in the afternoon inland and were heading towards Darwin...although whether they keep their momentum up remains to be seen. I've added some new photos here of all types. I'll be updating the lightning info page soon and added images to the research page.
Image shows just how infrequent and random flashes can be. This stroke hit 1km behind these fisherman as they were tending their boat after coming in during a deluge of rain and lightning. They were oblivious to the lightning...I was udner cover but wanted a lightning stroke hitting behind them...the Gods were smiling on me after over an hour of waiting!!!! All images (c) StormscapesDarwin.com
* Great lightning show with our own Anchorman Jonathan Upton from Channel 9 News here in Darwin - great light show and commentary DARWIN LIGHTNING VIDEO
Image shows where a lightning flash hit and caused this small fire. The ground is sodden and the vegetation is not dry which gives some perspective to how intense lightning strokes are, they carry an enormous amount of heat.
Update 6Jan 2012.
Happy New Year to everyone!!. The year capped off with a weak cyclone to the east of Darwin, TC Grant. He had formed above Darwin and did some off-the-wall movements defying all the models and Darwin was under cyclone warning for some time. He eventually moved east with the influx of a low pressure ridge which attached itself to the monsoon flow and a weakening ridge over Western Australia aided in the easterly track. Inland flooding caused some major damage to our rail line with a freight train being derailed north of Katherine. The only road in, the Stuart Highway was also washed away in the same area. Road is open but rail will be some time before it's operational again.
Storms have been very frequent during the December and post-monsoonal period. Only a few during the day but several good strong lines in the early hours of the morning sneaking up on Darwin. I've been out getting as much data as possible and with the advent of an Australian company supplying a lightning sensor/hardware/software I have been able to have all the required data at my fingertips when storms are about. The company who graciously supplied the equipment is http://lightning.net.au/. The fabulous Australian company uses both local and US software to create a very fine lightning detection system.
The data I receive is used for deciphering what strokes or flashes are captured re polarity and KAmp strength. This information is vital in determining damage, injury and protection requirements but for the research it's important in viewing upward positive leaders and sprites. Please visit their site above if you have any lightning protection issues or would like to know more about this fine Australian company.
The weather is a little quiet as of 6/1/12 as we have a NE steering mechanism and this typically hampers the lifting efforts for storms, they are about and anvilling but little lightning has been detected over the past three days. Once the steer shifts more from inland the intensity of storms will once again show their heads.
I've included a few new images for you. You can find some neat HS video snapshots of lightning on the research page.
more soon!
Update 19Nov 2011
Plenty of thunderstorm action mainly inland. Storms having been firing around midday which is pretty early! I've got about ten days leave from today so will be hunting them down further afield. My camera gear has been playing up of late and one of the cameras is definitely on the shelf - it was my back up camera! I've been doing some timelapse of Hector on the Tiwi Islands viewd from Darwin. They are included below. Will update again very soon.
Update 8November 2011
The first few days of the official wet season blessed Darwin with magnificent storms! Text book set ups allowed these storms to be uninhibited by low level cloud or rain. I had missed out on a few day's chasing due to work, but surely made up for it on 6/7 November. The images are below and have included my YouTube timelapse of the epic lightning display.
Update 26 October 2011
Storms rolled in with gusto during the week with 25Oct proving to be a great day for lightning. I managed to capture some prior to work which was nice, missed one in particular which would have been shot of the year...oh well...forecast is much per normal with afternoon shower or storm predicted, so far has been right. Chased today 26th just locally as storms formed in areas closer to home and did not need to do any real miles to get them. Images from the past few days below and video of time lapse of lightning also.
Lightning timelapse:
http://youtu.be/oqePytkW6J4
Storm images:
Come mid November I have some extended time off so some hard core chasing will be had...hope you're enjoying the updates!
Update 19 October 2011
Early morning storms swept through parts of Darwin but mainly stayed rural and most lightning was inland. I managed to dash out for a few quick images whilst the moderate rain pelted the car...thankfully the lightning which was at its peak was right in front! Report will be added shortly on the storm event.
Above image showing good leader development with 4 groundings and strong continuing current in the LH channel in particular.
Update 7 October 2011 Thunderstorms return for the start of the wet season. Inland storms have been forming with the advent of good moisture influx. Storm updrafts are very strong with good deep convection but lightning activity is inhibited by a lot of dry air resulting in only a few flashes but the storm failing to remain electrified. I had to drive some 730km south yesterday (7th October) in a mercy rescue dash, but was able to see two large storms grow from start to end on the trip back to Darwin. Only one large CG was visible from the latter cell and no more lightning was produced after that. Instability is still fairly good at around 800-1000 CAPE, but LI's are minimal at -1 to -3 and sounding profiles show high capped storms but average lapse rates. As the season progresses now things should improve. By mid-week 12th October CAPE numbers are up around 1400+ which is more akin to better development of storm structures. I grabbed a couple of images of the past two days'storms.
Update 27 September: Moisture is gradually encroaching as the weeks go by. Sporadic days of humidity with the odd shower about but thunderstorms are not on the radar just yet. Whilst the instability is at a minimum, these should improve as the weeks progress. The cameras are charged, the video is ready and I've acquired some neat attachments for the cameras to have them outside on the car instead of a tripod to shoot still images and video at 300-600fps and using the standard HD video inside the car. New laptop mount for incar use should arrive soon so the car will be fitted out with things in easy reach and without the hassle of moving things about. The storm season is not too far away, so the excitement is building and the lightning research will be in full swing.
The storm season is approaching quickly with only a month or two to go as of 8/8/2011. Armed with more knowledge on lightning, new locations and video, this season will be my best yet weather playing her cards right. Last season was atrocious for storms, 3000mm of rain for the season litterally killed off all access roads out of Darwin so chasing was restricted for every chaser in Darwin. This season should see normality return to our patterns so an exciting chase season is ahead.