On 6/17 storms moved into central north Alabama near Meridianville and New Market. I chased these cells for quite a few hours and finally had to call it quits after ending up on a dead-end road that GPS didn’t show as a dead-end road.
I started in Meridianville looking west as the storms approached:
Airplane heading to HSV.
Video screen cap.
Video screen cap.
Video screen cap.
Capturing lightning on a cell phone camera can be difficult. It’s about timing. Maybe there’s an app out there that does continuous shot like my SLR does, but my camera phone needs me to press the damn button every time, and there’s a few seconds between when it takes the picture and when I can take the next one. I’ve had zero success in capturing lightning on my cell phone camera every time I’ve tried.
But on October 8th we had a great storm roll in over Meridianville and just north of Moore’s Mill (Chase Valley), Alabama. The view in my back yard was amazing and the lightning was incredible! Bolts and fingers everywhere! I tapped the hell out of that button and BAM! Not only did I get one, but I got several. I’m including all the ones I got, even the mediocre ones, because I’m just too damn excited that I caught lightning on my cell phone camera! As always, you can click on the picture to see the larger image.
I got super excited when I captured this tiny little bit of lightning. If only I had known what was coming!
Oh, I captured another one! I’m so excited at this point I can barely hold the camera still! But the best was yet to come…
Hell yeah! A full bolt. Too bad it’s distorted and hard to see really well. But hey, I got one with my cell phone! But wait… there’s more!
OH HELL YEAH! I was so excited after this shot that I almost dropped my cell phone. But the surprises weren’t done.
Finger lightning coming from the East. My excitement was less dramatic by this point, but it was still awesome to see this on my cell phone screen.
This is the last lightning I captured. It’s not a full bolt, but I think the small bolts inside the cloud are gorgeous. So it’s a keeper!
On Sunday, 8/17, storms rolled through the Tennessee Valley, heading generally east. I started following the storms just northwest of Meridianville and followed them to just east of Gurley. These storms were not tornadic and showed no signs of rotation. They were moderate lightning generators and produced light to moderate winds with moderate rain. Don’t forget to check out our Alabama Storm Chasers & Spotters group on Facebook!
Video of the first cell I encountered northwest of Meridianville. I was at the 9600 block of Patterson Rd.
A couple of animated GIFs from that same cell:
Photos of the first cell:
Some of the lightning shots from the day (click on the image to see the full size photo):
US-231 Southbound, intersection of Meridian Rd.
Southbound on Naugher Rd at Intersection of Winchester Rd. Strike is on Alpha Lane.
Southbound on Naugher Rd at Intersection of Winchester Rd. Strike is on Alpha Lane.
Across from the Sunoco on Naugher Rd. looking east along Winchester Rd.
Sitting at intersection of US-72 & Dug Hill Rd looking east along US-72. Strike near Gurley.
Sitting at intersection of US-72 & Dug Hill Rd looking east along US-72. Striking the radio tower northwest of Gurley.
Sitting at intersection of US-72 & Dug Hill Rd looking east along US-72. Mountain strike northwest of Gurley.
Sitting along US-72 at Brock Rd looking east. Strike northwest of Gurley.
For some reason my dashcam is doing this weird thing with lightning:
Blair Scott: Synthentral 