WHAT A STORM!

[Colin]

I was surprised last night as a nice squall line developed and punched through my area last night between 8 and 9:30 PM. Tremendous rainfall, and LOTS of lightning, and this is the weird part, AS the storm stopped.

As we were driving home, there was one lightning strike that I have never witnessed before...I think it is called "Ball" lightning, or "Spider" lightning if there is such a thing...it just went all over the sky like a spider. It was SOOOOOO cool! It was more of a lightning storm then a Thunderstorm. There were some other lightning strikes that were pretty neat...but not as neat as the other one.

Oh, and I forgot one...there was one lightning strike that I didn't see, but my mom told me it looked like it was wrapped around a funnel... :woot: But I doubt that it was since the rain was stopping, and there was no wind... But, that was an awesome storm.

Just thought I'd share that with my fellow wx weenies...

[Stephanie]

I think your storm was similar to the one I drove home through last night.

I was out late with my friends for a belated birthday dinner and I was driving home from close to the Jersey shore at around 10:15 pm. I could see up ahead ALOT of lightening flashes and I was thinking to myself what the heck am I driving into? There was alot of cloud to ground strikes. When I finally reached the storm there was a good downpour but it didn't really last that long. I haven't heard anything about any major fires from all of that lightening but it was a sight to behold!

[Aslkahuna]

is just that a Plasma Ball from a lightning discharge-what you probably saw were "anvil crawlers", lightning that spreads out in the spider web like pattern in the underside of the anvil and debris clouds.

Steve

[Arizwx]

Those Plasma Balls can actually ride the atmosphere to low levels and 'mutate' to a Purple Ionized 'Mag Ball' as I call them or a magnesium type of intense spinning heat.Ever seen a mag wheel burn?A real mag that is.Its like a Chinese Whirlling Dervish..
These are the critters that like to follow Telephone/Power lines and can actually enter a home..roll the underside of a cieling and take out anything in its path...including a human using a land line or dishwasher until it finds its natural 'ground'..which in my case was the 220 outlet in the garage where my washer dryer were(back in Walnut Creek,CA)...I ended up being thrown againstr the car..with a nasty headache and saw stars for an hr. The Elec panel was toast.
Also...I was flying inbound from San Diego to Ryan Field in W Tus when a series of showers went Sev near Vail to the east just after sunset.On the VFRclimbout/avoidance per TUS ..I saw 'Uprising Bolts' from the top of a backsheared anvil ENE of Green Valley.Later I found these beautiful phenoms have a name...'Sprites' and may be a precursor to SeV++Wx and /or Tornadoes.The research continues.

[Colin]

Yeah, I think that's what I saw, Aslkahuna. Thanks for the info!

[Stormsfury]

Interesting you bring up Red Sprites and Blue Jets Arizwx ...
Also, of note: I've witnessed (not the Red Sprites or Blue Jets) but lightning commonly referred to as a "Bolt from the Blue" but on several occasions, witness lightning shooting upwards straight into the sky above a thunderstorm ... these are known by the German term "Flachtenblitz" or "upward lightning" ... very fascinating sight to see.

Some websites on these phenomena for anyone else that's interested.
http://elf.gi.alaska.edu/
http://umbra.nascom.nasa.gov/spd/sprites.html
http://www.lateralscience.co.uk/sprites/

One last site I just found ... also discusses ball lightning as well as upward lightning, red sprites and blue jets.
http://www.sky-fire.tv/index.cgi/lookforsprites.html

[Stephanie]

Speaking of ball lightning -

There's a story about when my motherwas really young, she was riding home on her tricycle as a thunderstorm was starting. Apparently, as my Grandmother was watching her pedal down the sidewalk in front of the house, there was a "lightning ball" literally bouncing after her. I don't know what happened to this ball after she got off her bike and ran to the house, whether it dissipated or not. I remember reading stories about weather phenomenon when I was young, where balls of lightning can/have come through people's windows, etc. :o