Local Lightning Storm Last Night

[Eric]

I stayed up to the wee hours to get this from a nearby hilltop here in the central valley in CA. It hit the ground from the looks of it but fortunately didn't start a fire from what I can see this morning. However, smoke is still everywhere making it almost intolerable to be outside for more than a few minutes at a time.

 

[DT]

Wow. Is anyone else just __awed__ by natural occurrences like this?

People: "We need to figure out ways to generate electricity."

Earth: "Hold my beer ..."

 

[Renzatic]

Wow. Is anyone else just __awed__ by natural occurrences like this?

I would be, but there's something about my neighborhood that attracts lightning, so the thrill has grown a little thin for me. All it does is piss me off these days.

 

[DT]

I would be, but there's something about my neighborhood that attracts lightning, so the thrill has grown a little thin for me. All it does is piss me off these days.

You probably didn't see this (posted it to MR ...), it was from Universal Studios a couple of weeks ago, it looks like it hit the Rockit!

 

[Renzatic]

You probably didn't see this (posted it to MR ...), it was from Universal Studios a couple of weeks ago, it looks like it hit the Rockit!

Admittedly, that's pretty cool.

Your first shot is too actually, but, you know, I like to find reasons to complain about everything.

 

[Gutwrench]

I moved from the Midwest to SF around 1980. That same summer I heard a gathering of people in the parking lot below my balcony.

I came out asking what everyone was doing and a guy flashed me a puzzled look and pointed to the sky. I scoffed saying, “you're watching lightning?” I never saw a lightning storm again until I moved out of the Bay around 2000.

 

[Thomas Veil]

Last Friday I was at work and the sky darkened outside my window...that ominous-looking, low hanging dark blue/grey cloud layer that portends anything from a violent thunderstorm to a tornado. We got three Code Red messages on our phones.

As I worked at my desk I heard a CRACK! that literally made me get up out of my chair and exclaim, “Holy shit!” I knew it was a lightning strike, but there was no accompanying rumble...which leads me to believe it was very near us.

And it happened again a little bit later. Thank god I was inside. The rain storm that followed was brief but impressive.

 

[Gutwrench]

What’s a Code Red? Did Nicholson order it? You bet he did!

 

[Eric]

I moved from the Midwest to SF around 1980. That same summer I heard a gathering of people in the parking lot below my balcony.

I came out asking what everyone was doing and a guy flashed me a puzzled look and pointed to the sky. I scoffed saying, “you're watching lightning?” I never saw a lightning storm again until I moved out of the Bay around 2000.

A rare event for sure. You may have seen that a couple of weeks back they had a huge swath of them move through and I had no idea it was coming or I would've driven down (about 1.5 hours away) and tried to grab some shots. I really kicked myself for missing it, lightning storms that powerful are really a once in a lifetime event there. I am so envious of all the beautiful photos some were able to get of it.

 

[Thomas Veil]

What’s a Code Red? Did Nicholson order it? You bet he did!

Code Red is a community warning system that calls phones to notify you of tornado warnings, severe thunderstorms, etc. Many communities have it. It’s a business so your town has to pay for it.

 

[Renzatic]

Code Red is a community warning system that calls phones to notify you of tornado warnings, severe thunderstorms, etc. Many communities have it. It’s a business so your town has to pay for it.

That'd be nice to have, but my town's probably too cheap to pay for something like that. We'd rather just wait for it to hit us, listening to the meteorologists on the radio tell us about preliminary reports of a possible touchdown in the area as someone's house passes overhead outside.