Summer Solstice Storms - June 22nd 08 - Page 2
This was at a very low altitude. It looks more like a wall cloud here - but it isn't. This scene reminds me of the lowered base of a supercell.
Outflow boundary much more pronounced now. You can clearly see the great curve of the shelf to the R. I'm surprised there was no lightning from this.
That's a definite large scale lowering under the shelf. I honestly was expecting a funnel or tornado to drop down from the lowering into the fields below.
Super wide angle image of the shelf.
This sneaked up from behind me moving W to E (R to L). This was yet another big convective cloud. Note that curled precip curtain at the leading edge of the cell seen edge-on. Nice convection catching sunlight in the distance. A drop of rain managed to hit my lens at the bottom. I walked up a hill for a better view. Nasty rain falling now.
The view from the crest of the hill looking at the outflow region of this big cell. This is looking directly S. Slieve Gallion mountain is in the distance with the precip between it and me.
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Last shot of the morning. Looking NE again at a menacing low level cloud base and heavy shower. It was moving from L to R here. I watched as the precip curtain moved across the landscape completely obscuring the horizon. Heavy showers now hit me so I went back inside. I was only inside a few min's when a brilliant flash of lightning lit up the W sky. My family seen it illuminating the inside of the house through the W facing windows. however I missed it because I was in a E facing room. At least there was lightning. I checked the sferics and radar which confirmed the strike. It was indeed to the W and N of my location. Going by this position it was the gust front I caught above which produced the lightning. Radar showed red and white returns which is the heaviest rainfall you can get. The cell produced a few more flashes then drifted further to the NE and entered the Sea. This was the most exciting part of the day. I was glad I got up early to witness these cool storm structures. The rain continued into the first part of the night and eventually cleared. It has been an exciting 24 hours. Forecasters are hinting at more unsettled weather this week so I will be monitoring the situation. Thanks for the reading.
Martin McKenna
