June 28th 2011 located in the countryside close to the north of Maghera on a lovely warm day. I had been entertained by a nice line of convection which erupted to life during the late afternoon with high contrast black storm clouds brewing low over the brown and green fields as the cows lazily whipped clouds of flies away with their tails, the strong sun cooked the ground causing me to break out in sweat and further invigorate convective development. This was a convergence zone where air from different directions meet resulting in upward motion which acts as a form of lift forcing air parcels vertically into the atmosphere, if the day is unstable with enough moisture then this act alone can generate thunderstorms rather easily. Warmer air aloft stopped any chance of lightning this day however everything else was in place with a line of tall and strong updraught towers in a sheared environment which in conjunction with convergence made for an impressive line of storm clouds which were rich in lively motion. Along this entire base I watched as inflow in the form of rising scud into the base caught my eye then for the next 25-30 min's I watched several areas of strong rotation in unison as the base tried to produce several funnel clouds, although I never got a spout watching the twisting and the sheer entertainment of not knowing what was going to happen next made this a very memorable day. * All images are available for sale in the form of photo prints, canvas or digital files for licensing, if you are interested in a purchase simply drop me an email.

BACK

 

HOME