Kitao / Storms /Storms 2

STORMS - Part 2

Pictures made during summer 1994 :

- Saint Baudille, Larzac, august 1994 - Crazy evening : after a first thunderstorm that extended a wonderful show of mammatus clouds at sundown, heavens started to cook us another lightshow. Instability is at is best in an unusual north-eastern flux, giving birth to many separated storms. And the whole scene is illuminated by the bright full moon.  For this unforgettable evening we stood at the summit of Saint Baudille (2785 ft.), with some thoughtlessness ! But, man, what a show ! Look at the pictures below ! The Moon disappear behind the anvil of a dissipating storm, as thunderbolts are showering the suburbs of the city of Montpellier. I had no tripod at all for this pictures. So, I put directly my camera on the rocs, then on the orientation table that stays on the Saint Baudille's summit. Thousand thanks to Raphaëlle, who followed me and let me gently use her camera (Pentax MX SLR 35-mm camera with 50 - and 28 mm lenses and an Agfa 100-iso film).   A closer view to this storm reveals impressive bolts. A detailed analyze of these pictures learned me that the base of the cumulonimbus clouds where very high (3800 m = 12 500 ft.), so the lightning could be observed in very good conditions, with also help to the excellent horizontal visibility. In the background, two other active cells are visible. The most distant bolts are 80 km away !     The crowning moment happened with this pure lightning splendor. Without striking the ground, this awesome discharge exploded high in the air, over the vineyards between the little towns of Gignac and Aniane. I remember how this spider-bolts seemed to radiate around a very bright donut shaped arc (!). It's one of the most splendid lightning I've ever seen ... You can get this pic with a higher resolution on this here.   Bonus pic : this complex-shaped strike :