Thunderstorms.

[G0BHD]

Well they predicted them for the early days of this week and they were not wrong.
We have had two on successive days.
Mondays was a short run affair, typical thunderstorm format and didn't last very long but a few good flashes close by and loud thunder claps accompanied by a quick torrential down pour.
Tonight's was quite a different type of storm.
It was all high altitude lightning within clouds, didn't see a single ground strike, but huge cloud to cloud fork lightning, that was firing off almost continuously every 1 to 2 seconds, often several at once in different parts of the sky, hundreds there must have been over its duration, the thunder ended up as a continuous rolling rumble with no gaps, just punctuated by the occasional far louder bangs and crashes, with a continuous roar in the background.
There were quite a few stood in their back gardens watching the light show with a beer in hand, it was quite spectacular.
And all the dogs in the neighborhood were going mental!
The other strange thing there was not a single drop of rain at all, and it lasted without let up for over an hour.
Best fireworks I have seen for years!
Then finally it started to move away over towards Shrewsbury at a guess, from the direction, and faded into the distance.
Then suddenly the wind picked up out of nowhere giving the big Oaks at the back of our house a good shaking and the heavens opened, heavy torrential rain, but after the thunder storm had actually passed away?
Never seen anything like it, the sudden wind and rain lasted about 2 minutes tops, and then just stopped instantly like someone flicked a switch off!
Weird storm for sure.

[VK5TM]

We get that occasionally, last one probably a couple of years ago, went on for a couple of hours.

Was late in the evening, so almost daylight type sky with the continuous flashes and dog hiding under our feet.

More commonly now they predict a thunderstorm which never eventuates (much like rain in Oz, although the Eastern States have been drowned again these last few days).

[G0BHD]

We get that occasionally, last one probably a couple of years ago, went on for a couple of hours.

Was late in the evening, so almost daylight type sky with the continuous flashes and dog hiding under our feet.

More commonly now they predict a thunderstorm which never eventuates (much like rain in Oz, although the Eastern States have been drowned again these last few days).

Funny you say Terry, last time I saw a storm like tonight was a few years ago now in down in Australia.
Me and the other half, who is a born and bred Aussy, were visiting her relatives that live on the Gold Coast in Queensland, and we had gone over to Keppel Island for a visit, one night we were there they had a spectacular thunder storm that lasted a couple of hours, very similar to what we had here tonight, with almost continuous lightning, only difference it was slightly better place to be located to be viewing it!
We both sat in the still warm and muggy garden tonight watching the overhead fireworks display with a beer each, and she actually said..... "This is like being back home!"
Must be this Global warming they all keep talking about, looks like we are destined for future tropical storms!

[Sangoma]

We had very little the last two nights, last night I disconnected the antennas in case it got worse.

In SA it as an almost daily occurrence in summer, if I forgot to disconnect the antennas in the morning, it was a case of phoning home and any one there knew how to do it. In big storms, everything was unplugged from the mains.
Gum trees explode when hit, looks like they have been blown up with explosive.

Power cuts were frequent.

The first signs often would be hissing and clicking coming from the end of the coax. On my small holding, the top of the car aerial used to start hissing. (it was on top of a hill)

Biggest storms usually came just before the rain or just after it.

I think we have only had two big storms here since we have been back, don't mind, they are pretty but a nuisance.

[gw7unv]

I was sat on the lawn, with a drink, looking at the Shropshire light show to the North East and the meteor show above, clear skies above.
I have never seen anything like it, the sky was permanently lit up but perfectly silent.

Evan