Brisbane • Wed 15 Nov 2006
Images are available to purchase.
Click the thumbnails for a larger view.
A lot was
promised by the models today, and
while Brisbane did get a couple
of nasty cells, they cleared off
relatively early and left a
storm-free afternoon. As far as I
could see, the models forecast
most of the activity on the
northside, but the southside
received a few storms while the
north got nothing.
The first
cell came through Brisbane around
1pm. I was in Springwood where
there were no structural features
to the storm, but I did get a few
ripper lightning bolts landing
close by, a couple of which I
managed to catch on film.
It's
difficult to see in the above
thumbnail (click for larger
version), but there is a feint
bolt through the middle.
Photographing
lightning during the day is
difficult because it's a matter
of pressing the shutter button as
soon as you see the lightning,
which usually means you miss it.
One of my secret aims with
photographing lightning is to
catch the point where it contacts
the ground - not an easy task.
Well, today was my lucky day.
This strike was less than half a
km away and it struck a billboard
which was visible from my spot at
Arndale Shopping Centre in
Springwood. And as you can
imagine, it was LOUD!
 
Take a
close look at where the bolt was
in the second photo above. It was
taken a fraction of a second
after the first shot. The
remnants of the lightning bolt
are visible as what looks like
glowing balls, as some sections
of the strike fade quicker than
others! Here's a zoom of both
images:
 
Very
excited to have caught this!
UPDATE
Tue 5 Dec 2006:
Upon closer inspection of
the above photos and of
the site itself, I've
since discovered this
lightning strike landed a
lot CLOSER than
originally thought - less
than 50 metres away! And
rather than a billboard,
it struck an air
conditioning unit on the
roof of the same shopping
centre I was standing on!
Luckily, I was
undercover.
Judging
by the lightning photo,
it appears to have hit
the left handrail of the
metal ladder.
Whenever
I go back up to that
rooftop, the closeness of
that air con unit sends a
chill down my spine!
The
next morning, I had a
chat about the experience
with the Cage breakfast
show on
Triple M.
 MP3
(1.2MB)
|
My
partner Michelle was working in
Murarrie near the southern end of
the Gateway Bridge and she saw a
lovely gustfront from the more
severe north end of this same
storm. These are her pics:
     
She then
got very heavy rain and up to 2cm
hail.
   
The
following are video clips shot by
Michelle:
Gustfront
(1.5MB)
|
Heavy
rain and wind (980K)
|
Hail
(550K)
|
I was
convinced that the northside or
the Sunshine Coast was due for
something so I made the slow
drive up there to be ready for
whatever might happen. Thanks to
Drewy for the radar updates, but
unfortunately more cells were
heading for the southside! Very
frustrating, as I was getting
nothing up here.
I got as
far as Deception Bay Rd,
Burpengary and gave up. I moved
across to Redcliffe and saw the
cell down south which was
crossing the Gold Coast.
 
I decided
to make the long drive back south
knowing it would be during
Brisbane's ridiculous peak hour
traffic on the Gateway Mwy. But
something was continually feeding
the cell, and I thought I'd
probably see more if I at least
headed back towards it. Some
pileus during the drive was nice:
 
Two
overturned trucks within a
kilometre of each other on the
Gateway Mwy northbound was not so
nice. Traffic northbound was
horrendous, but even southbound
we were banked up for kilometres
despite the fact that our side of
the freeway was clear.
  
When I got
back to Springwood, the Gold
Coast cell seemed to be heading
well out to sea, so I took one
last shot before bidding it
farewell.
I was
hoping some stuff might fire up
after dark as the models
suggested, but it didn't happen.
Home
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