Storms near El Dorado (Non-Severe) 07/29/2013

There's thunder outside to the east as we finish off one of the cooler and wetter July's in memory.  Enough rain has fallen in the area (6-12 inches depending where you are), with flooding in some places this evening.  Earlier today there was a slight threat of severe weather and I went running up toward the El Dorado area that had some weak, broad rotation.  Watched a very brief wall cloud develop and fall apart quickly.  There were funnels spotted near Medicine Lodge but nothing touched the ground.

07/23/2013 Big Storms and Lightning Everywhere

After last night's storms, a boundary moved through the area promising some severe storms and heavy rains for the drought stricken area.  They exploded around 5pm and quickly moved south.  When they hit Hutchinson, Kansas, there were reports of hail from baseball sized to grapefruit (4 inch) sized hail.  Several roofs were peeled back and parking lots were full of shattered glass.

The scary looking cloud next to the trademark may have quickened a few pulses.

Luckily the storm lost some punch as it came near the Wichita area and turned into one of the most impressive lightning storms I've seen in a couple years. I did not have my lightning detector in the field so I came home and waited for the strongest part of the storm to pass.  The photos below were taken on a 4-6 second timer while hiding in the garage.  With the lightnings strobe-like frequency and continuous ground strikes, it was not a good night to be the tallest in the field.  

Left Reaching Lightning

Not a scientific term by any means, just a strange realization that all of my lightning went left this evening.  Some storms were severe but nothing reached the Wichita area.

Streak to the left was one of several planes that landed in Wichita this evening. 

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Starry Night with a Near Full Moon.

Dim satellite to the left of center.

The satellite would flare in the sun or moonlight.

Simple Summer Storms

A nice cold front has been hanging to the north spawning summer thunderstorms.  I went out attempting to get some daytime lightning shots but simply ended up with cloudscapes.  Everything remained below severe levels and we ended up with a nice gentle rain.

Manmade Thunder and Lightning

Forth of July 2013

'Nuff said.