Thunderstorm overhead

Posted on July 20, 2025 Posted in UncategorizedTagged Birdsong, Blitzortung.org, Garden, Hanging baskets, Light, Lightening, Sound, Speed, Thunder, WeatherLeave a comment

My hanging baskets are getting well watered. I took a video but you can’t really see the rain well. I looked up the storms on blitzortung.org which is a free thunder and lightening monitoring service covering the whole world. There is a line of thunderstorms heading up from the south from the Welsh border to around Derby passing over Stoke-on-Trent and rumbling north.

The closest lightning was about 2 seconds between flash and boom. That’s about a mile away as there is a time delay due to the speed of light being so much faster than the speed of sound. The last combination was about 12 seconds… 2 seconds equals a mile distance, 12 is therefore 6 miles. It’s going North.

One thing I’ve noticed is the rolling boom of thunder seems to last a lot longer these days. Starting soft before reaching a crescendo then gradually fading. There must be so much energy up there! And it’s just stopped raining… And the birds have started singing again…

Thunder over Stoke.

Posted on September 21, 2024September 21, 2024 Posted in UncategorizedTagged Blitzortung.org, flash, Life, Lightening, live lightening, Rain, rumble, Storm, Thunder, WetLeave a comment

I got home in time to miss the worst of the storm. Thunder rolling over the hill. I stepped out of the car and only got a bit damp, but the lightening was coming, and with it the rain.

The heavy rain has now been falling for hours. I videoed a few seconds, but my phone was out of charge so I gave up trying to catch a lightening strike. I posted what I had recorded on Facebook. Water cascading from the gutter in front of my door, rushing down the hill, overflowing onto the pavement. The sky was dark and full up with energy.

Six hours later and the storm has rebounded back to us a few times, lightening flashes and the loudest roars of thunder I have heard in years. The lights flickered off and on at one stage.

I count the seconds after each flash. 2 seconds is a mile. So I can judge how far away the storm is, if the thunder rolls straight after the flash it’s overhead, if it’s heard after 2 seconds that’s a mile. Currently it’s rumbling 6 seconds after the flash so that’s about 3 miles away.

If you want to look at live lightening maps across the world go to https://www.blitzortung.org

Currently on the site the main storm is a few miles south of Stoke-on-Trent. Looking at the rest of the world the USA seems very active. I recommend turning off detectors and turning on the sound so you can hear how active the storms are. It’s safe to accept cookies but I close all ads.

Sudden

Posted on December 6, 2021December 13, 2021 Posted in Sketching, UncategorizedTagged #bandofsketchers, Acrylic, Art, flash, Lightening, Painting, Prompt, Sketching, sudden6 Comments

A sudden flash of lightening (imagined) lit up the night sky. Sudden was Sundays prompt for our #bandofsketchers challenge. I couldn’t think of what to paint until I had a sudden ‘flash’ of inspiration! Acrylic black and blue paint and a bit of glitter glue to try and add a few sparks of light.

Have you heard of ‘Thunder Snow’?

Posted on December 5, 2020 Posted in Sketching, UncategorizedTagged Art, Cold, Digital drawing, Edinburgh, Lightening, Snow, Thunder, Thunder snow, Weather2 Comments

No? Neither had I.

But in Edinburgh yesterday they got it! Basically it was a thunderstorm but because it was so cold there was snow instead of rain. The descriptions were that the lightening was brighter then normal (the whiteness of the snow made the light reflect more brilliantly). The thunder sounded like an explosion (muffled by the snow and clouds). Some people even rang the emergency services. Apparently its a rare phenomena but not unknown.

Ball lightening?

Posted on October 28, 2020 Posted in UncategorizedTagged Ball lightening, Chat, Cup of tea, Life, Lightening, Memory, New scientist, Old lady, ThunderLeave a comment

I was just reading an article in the New Scientist on line about the phenomenon of ball lightening. Then I remembered that I visited an old lady as part of my job, twenty years ago. We were having a chat over a cup of tea. She told me about when she was a lot younger. She was in her living room, maybe in the 1950’s? There was a lightening storm outside and she had got her window open as it was a hot day. Suddenly a ball of light floated in through the open window, bounced off the floor and then disappeared again. She had never seen anything like it but thought it might be ball lightening? I didn’t ask her much because I didn’t know what to ask. She went on to say that from then on she always unplugged everything electrical in the house and kept her windows shut in a thunderstorm in case it happened again.

I would love to see something like that. But would it be dangerous and knock out electrical equipment if they came into contact with each other? Strange how memories you’ve never had before can suddenly come back to you.

More thunder forecast.

Posted on August 16, 2020August 16, 2020 Posted in UncategorizedTagged High pressure, Lightening, Low pressure, Obsessed with weather, Poem, Poetry, Rain, Thunder, Weather, Weather forecastLeave a comment

Could it thunder again?

Is it possible?

It’s forecast.

I sit waiting.

Listening for rumbles.

Bright flashes.

It’s rained heavily,

But no bangs and crashes.

No flashes or smashes

Pent up heat

Humidity.

Pressure is high

but falling rapidly.

If I sleep

Will I wake

To fireworks or whizz bangs!?

Brollies at the ready

Posted on August 15, 2020August 15, 2020 Posted in UncategorizedTagged Blogging, Brollies, Forecast, Life, Lightening, Rain, Safety, Thunder, Umbrella, WeatherLeave a comment

After a good, mostly sunny, day the weather forecast is talking about more thunderstorms tomorrow. I have my brollies ready as we might be going out. However I won’t be out in a storm. The safest place then is your car. It acts as a Faraday cage an will direct any lightening around the car body and safely away to Earth. Don’t shelter under trees in thunderstorms and don’t have your brollies up. The point at the top can attract lightening. If you can’t get away you are supposed to hunker down low in a ball if possible with your back above your head if that makes sense? See real instructions! I’m trying to remember old information. X

Thunderstorm

Posted on August 11, 2020 Posted in UncategorizedTagged Blogging, Energy in the atmosphere, Forked lightening, Hot, Humid, Life, Lightening, Sheet lightening, Storm, Thunder, Weather, West of usLeave a comment

There is a thunderstorm to the west of us. I managed to take one shot of a very bright sky but I could only get a picture of them by videoing it. I don’t think I have enough memory to post that. I’ve also included a screenshot of the current storm from blitzortung, a Web site that shows live lightening strikes. It’s mad. You know the scene in the War of the worlds with lightening but no rain.. Its like that, except you can hear it rumbling away, we saw lots of forked lightening flashing horizontally across the clouds.

I switched my plug to the washing machine off. I don’t want the cb board to be fused like it did on my old one.

Washing machine working again

Posted on June 18, 2020 Posted in UncategorizedTagged Electronics, Fixed, Lightening, Power, Relief, Repair, Time, Washing machine, WeatherLeave a comment

So after I rang the electrical goods shop about the washing machine, they said the thunderstorms we are having must have blown one of the two pcb boards that control it…

I asked to have them replaced, but that would take two weeks to order them in and the cost would be £60 for one and £80 for the other, then £50 for Labour, plus Vat.

The decision is do that or buy another one. So I decided to go for a new one as I don’t know if I would have problems again with this machine.

So as I say, I rang to order a new machine this morning. Then for some reason I switched the washing machine on again, just to see if the thing would do anything (it had beeped before but the screen you press to choose spin speeds, and the start button had stayed black). I switched it on. Loud beep, I turned the dial to a random wash, I still had things inside from a few days ago… Beep, I saw the panel light up! I pressed start, it worked! Rang the shop back and cancelled the order!

My hubby reckons that the electricity from the lightening had disrupted the pcb panels, but by leaving it a couple of days it had allowed any power to dissipated and the circuit boards settled down. I’m holding my breath! I will unplug it every time its not in use.

Thunder and lightening.

Posted on June 15, 2020June 15, 2020 Posted in UncategorizedTagged Blogging, Lightening, Rain, Storm, Summer lightening, Thunder, Water, WeatherLeave a comment

Having a massive thunderstorm. The rain was drumming on the kitchen roof and my hubby went outside to turn off the electric power outside.

The storm blew over about ten minutes ago but now it sounds like it’s coming back. You can work out the distance it is away from you by watching when the flash happens and then counting the seconds until the thunder rolls again. Every second is half a mile. So if you see the flash and count six seconds. Then the storm is three miles away. Anyway its come back again. About two miles away. The rain gives life I suppose, but everything is very wet now! The thunder I rattling the windows.. I was nodding off but the noise woke me up!

Mallaband-Brown

Tag: Lightening