Lightning

A weather front rolls in from the horizon, storm clouds darken the sky, and (at least 1.3 billion times a year) lightning strikes. Last month, the National Weather Service promoted their Lightning Safety Week, with information designed to call attention to safe practices, helping people avoid lightning strikes which kill an average of 100 people every year. While the exact nature of the initial formation of lightning remains a subject of debate, what is known is that lightning strikes are caused by electrical imbalances present in the clouds. Those imbalances correct themselves suddenly, with an often spectacular light show - which I've tried to show here, with a handful of recent photographs of lightning from around the world. (26 photos total)

Lightning lights up the sky behind City Hall as a line of thunderstorms moves through Athens, Ga. Thursday morning, June 18, 2009. Over 4,000 people lost power in Northeast Georgia during the storm. (AP Photo/The Athens Banner-Herald, Kelly Lambert)

Flashes of lighting illuminate the sky during an overnight summer storm over Croatia's Adriatic port of Pula on July 10, 2009. (REUTERS/Nikola Solic) #

Lightning strikes behind the Davis Besse Nuclear Power Station in Oak Harbor, Ohio, on Thursday, April 2, 2009. (AP Photo/Port Clinton News Herald, Jonathon Bird) #

Lightning strikes behind two F/A-18C Hornet aircraft on the flight deck of the Nimitz-class aircraft carrier USS John C. Stennis, in the Pacific Ocean on April 8, 2009. (Mass Communication 2nd Class Elliott Fabrizio/U.S. Navy) #

Tentacles of lightning cover the sky over Voyle's Field early Thursday morning, June 18, 2009, in Galesburg, Illinois. Strong storms blew through western and central Illinois, breaking tree limbs and knocking out power for thousands of residents. (AP Photo/The Register-Mail, Bill Gaither) #

The steeple of the 190-year-old Medway Community Church in Medway, Massachusetts burns after being struck by lightning on July 1st, 2009. Firefighters were able to douse the fire, limiting damage to the steeple only. (Jim Smith, Assistant Fire Chief of Medway Fire Department, for the Boston Globe) #

Bolts of lightning illuminate the night sky of Montevideo, Uruguay as a thunderstorm unfolds over the Uruguayan capital on July 5, 2009. (MARIANA SUAREZ/AFP/Getty Images) #

In this picture taken Saturday, June 27, 2009, storm clouds gather and lightning strikes over the Houses of Parliament in London during a break in the hot weather. (AP PhotoPhoto/Lewis Whyld/PA) #

Lightning strikes through storm clouds over Agua volcano in Antigua, 32 km (20 mi) from Guatemala City, Guatemala on July 4, 2009. (REUTERS/Carlos Barria) #

Lightning above Lake Lecco, Italy, seen from nearby Monte Marenzo on July 2006 (Licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution ShareAlike 3.0 License from photographer Marco Uberti) #

Lightning strikes over the Beijing skyline during a thunderstorm early on July 12, 2009, near the city's tallest skyscraper, the China World Trade Center Tower 3. (FREDERIC J. BROWN/AFP/Getty Images) #

Lightning strikes a tower near the space shuttle Endeavour resting atop launch pad 39A during thunderstorms at the Kennedy Space Center in Cape Canaveral, Florida on July 10, 2009. NASA canceled the July 11, 2009 launch attempt of the Endeavour to assess possible damage from the nearby lightning strikes. (REUTERS/Gene Blevins) #

Lightning strikes over the Moscow River and Kremlin in Moscow, Russia, late Wednesday, July 15, 2009. (AP Photo/Sergey Ponomarev) #

Lightning illuminates the sky and reflects off the buildings of Bangkok on June 13, 2009. (NICOLAS ASFOURI/AFP/Getty Images) #

Lightning flashes during a thunderstorm over Mine Resistant Ambush Protected (MRAP) armored vehicles on the U.S. army's Forward Operating Base (FOB) Shank in Logar Province in Afghanistan July 18, 2009. (REUTERS/Shamil Zhumatov) #

Flashes of lighting cut through clouds in the sky over Pula, Croatia on Friday, July 10, 2009. (AP Photo/Darko Bandic) #

A U.S. Marine watches as lightning flashes on the horizon during a search operation for Taliban on March 25, 2009 near the village of Bakwa in remote southwestern Afghanistan. (John Moore/Getty Images) #

Lightning touches the ground in rural Cherokee County, Kansas, early Tuesday morning, June 16, 2009. (AP Photo/Carthage Press, John Hacke) #

A vein of lightning strikes beyond the Flagler Pier in Flagler Beach, Florida, as a summer storm rolls south on Saturday, July 18, 2009. (AP Photo/Daytona Beach News-Journal/David Massey) #

Lightning strikes above aircraft carrier USS John C. Stennis, under way in the Gulf of Thailand on April 8, 2009. (Mass Communication Specialist 3rd Class Jon Husman/U.S. Navy) #

At sea aboard USS Abraham Lincoln on Nov. 2, 2002, lightning fills the horizon, and lights up the flight deck and air wing aircraft parked on the ship"s forward elevator and bow. (Lt. Troy Wilcox/U.S. Navy) #

Lightning strikes over a suburban neighborhood of Prague, Czech Republic, during an overnight storm July 17, 2009. (REUTERS) #

Lightning streaks the sky behind the Federal Territory Mosque in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia on June 24, 2009. (SAEED KHAN/AFP/Getty Images) #

Lightning strikes over a ridge as a storm passes though Death Valley National Park in California just after sunset July 21, 2009. (REUTERS/Steve Marcus) #

Lightning illuminates the sky during a thunderstorm over the Swiss Federal Palace in Bern, Switzerland on July 17, 2009. (REUTERS/Michael Buholzer) #

A closer view of the Swiss Federal Palace in Bern, Switzerland, during a July 17, 2009 thunderstorm. (REUTERS/Michael Buholzer) #

More links and information

Lightning - Wikipedia entry

When Thunder Roars, Go Indoors - NOAA Lightning Awareness PSA

Lightning - The Underrated Killer National Weather Service

< Back to front page

Awesome as always!

Posted by tim July 30, 09 03:23 AM

pic n�18 looks awesome

Posted by Heritiana July 30, 09 03:29 AM

...is it ightning bugs?

Posted by michael July 30, 09 03:40 AM

Spettacolari!!!

Posted by Gi� July 30, 09 04:21 AM

#19 is awesome!

Posted by Roma July 30, 09 05:50 AM

amazing !!

Posted by jeremy July 30, 09 07:13 AM

Awesome pictures indeed......i wouldn�t dare be there in some of those places at that time !

Posted by Nirmala Blom-Adapa July 30, 09 07:23 AM

Comment on #21 is wrong. If the planes were illuminated by the lighting, the ones in the back would not be any darker than those in front. The planes are reflecting decks lights (this is a long exposure shot).

Posted by Bart July 30, 09 07:54 AM

Great pictures! But I must comment on #18:

The image has had far too much "unsharp masking" applied to it. Unsharp masking is a way to make an image appear more in focus by darkening the dark side of image feature edges (hence the dark borders around the lightning) and lightening the light side of image features (the light border along the treeline at the bottom of the image).

Even a casual user of Photoshop knows not to apply unsharp masking so much that it becomes obvious. I'm surprised that the AP put this one out there, it pushes the envelope for photojournalistic manipulation of an image. Photographs of lightning always have a slight halo or haze around them and trying to unsharp mask it away was a mistake.

Posted by Rusto July 30, 09 08:02 AM

Some really cool photos. Thanks for the post.

Posted by Boston Photographer - MWynne.com July 30, 09 08:47 AM

Absolutely incredible!

Posted by JL Sigman July 30, 09 09:06 AM

Really would love to use one of these as a desktop wallpaper.
Can you guys provide bigger sizes?

Posted by Ray B July 30, 09 09:39 AM

excellent shots, i am impressed!

Posted by doris stricher July 30, 09 10:32 AM

Here is one hitting the Eiffel Tower and a timelapse movie showing this storm with multiple bolts:

Picture:
http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_RGo_2A96FW4/SmDFTrJG4NI/AAAAAAAADC8/usYwQhxDyiI/s1600-h/IMG_9020.JPG

Time-lapse Video:
http://vimeo.com/5644019

Enjoy

Posted by AJR July 30, 09 11:10 AM

nice pictures!

Posted by Walter Mello July 30, 09 11:39 AM

I love lightning and thunderstorms. I actually took two images very similar to #3 (the lightning and the Energy Plant)

http://www.flickr.com/photos/tbrentmar/964908752/sizes/o/
&
http://www.flickr.com/photos/tbrentmar/3402775590/sizes/o/

Thanks for the pictures!

Posted by Thorin July 30, 09 12:52 PM

#31
That�s what I thought!
No science-bashing this time :)

Posted by Sven July 30, 09 01:27 PM

Beautiful. I wanna make my own in the future

Posted by DonMaTi July 30, 09 01:28 PM

Thanks!

Posted by meloki July 30, 09 01:56 PM

awsome
amazing
beautifull

Posted by azerty July 30, 09 02:02 PM

What a wonderful display of lightning. I was thoroughly delighted. Thank you so much. Best pictures of the year!!

Posted by Mary King July 30, 09 02:33 PM

We had some rain with thunder and lightning a couple of nights ago that woke me up, but it was nothing compared to a storm a few years ago that was so close and loud that I thought the lightning would hit the house (I was standing on the front porch watching the spectacle).

Posted by Johanne July 30, 09 02:34 PM

Great photos, amazing. As always a great collection. I must put up a link to a shot made by a friend of mine, and worthy of this list I think. Right place at the right time....

http://wvs.topleftpixel.com/08/08/18/

Posted by Scott Murdoch July 30, 09 02:40 PM

Beautiful shots! A pretty crazy lightning storm took place here in Vancouver last Saturday July 25... it happened on an amazing night... an amazing RED SKY sunset, with Rainbows... cued out by a CRAZY lightning storm. On the same nght of our annual worldwide FIrework competition. Celebration of Light... we knew the next morning there would be a flood of photography online of fireworks with lightning.... here are a couple shots of that night:
http://www.facebook.com/ext/share.php?sid=107857048385&h=zGywW&u=JHJcv&ref=mf
http://www.flickr.com/photos/29785170@N06/3763593468/sizes/o/

http://www.flickr.com/photos/treygeiger/3756632793/sizes/o/

Posted by Mike July 30, 09 02:46 PM

Amazing cap cloud in #9!! Paired with the lightning you got one amazing meteorological picture!

Posted by MeteorologistCB July 30, 09 03:32 PM

Touched By The Hand Of God.

Posted by Peter Bullert July 30, 09 03:40 PM

Simply love #26! Great pictures!

Posted by J. Thaddeus July 30, 09 04:40 PM

It's so lightning

Posted by OlhoNaTV July 30, 09 05:19 PM

Striking...sorry, that was lame.

Posted by Shutter Daddy July 30, 09 05:33 PM

these are the signs of presence of God!

Posted by baang43 July 30, 09 05:54 PM

I have been to the pier in Flager Beach Florida. It is really something to see the lighting storms, out to sea, on the east coast of Florida. Flager Beach is really close to Daytona Beach Florida known for Bike Week aroung the end of Feburary. Fantastic pictures from all over the world !!

Posted by Bob Feaster July 30, 09 07:02 PM

Nearly all of these terrific photos taken in 2009! Is there more than an electrical imbalance going on over this planet?

Posted by W.W.Kelly July 30, 09 07:17 PM

Awesome captures!

Posted by dacournean July 30, 09 08:19 PM

Amazing. Gives me a lot of confidence as far as becoming a professional photographer

Posted by Austin July 30, 09 09:07 PM

Beautiful images !!

We often experience lightning at our observatories as they are situated on mountain tops. Here's an event for your enjoyment.

http://www.noao.edu/image_gallery/html/im0426.html

We had a direct hit on our 0.9mtr telescope dome in 2006 but I cannot see a way to upload it to you ... Thanx for the excellent content in all your work.

Posted by Peter July 30, 09 11:21 PM

#25 is sweet!

Posted by ryan July 30, 09 11:37 PM

Really some amazing pictures!

And this is what happens when a storm meets a volcano:

http://megagalerias.terra.cl/galerias/index.cfm?id_galeria=30734

Posted by Neil July 31, 09 01:56 AM

I noticed, that most pics are dated 2009 July, regardless of their locations. Is that a coincident, or July had been a month of unusual weather? I have experienced bad storms, they are scary and I like to close my eyes, when lightning strikes, waiting for the awsome sound, that follows.! Certainly I would not be able to take photoes during a storm. Makes me feel very small...

Posted by Andrea Nadasdy July 31, 09 02:47 AM

sobhana allah nice photos

Posted by djaber July 31, 09 04:10 AM

the lightening in kansas is the realest

Posted by nonobvious July 31, 09 04:21 AM

Awesome !!

Posted by Mahesh July 31, 09 06:23 AM

Lightning in San Juan :D
http://img16.imageshack.us/img16/9364/islaverdekg5.jpg

Posted by Davsot July 31, 09 07:24 AM

Fireworks and lighting storm in Vancouver, BC on 25th of July:

http://www.smugmug.com/gallery/9044849_VEi4c#601998276_f6z6d
http://www.smugmug.com/gallery/9044849_VEi4c#601998210_LbWL9

Posted by Yury Mikhaylov July 31, 09 04:24 PM

beautiful thank you so much again :) :) :) :) :) :) :) :) :) :) :) :) :) :) :) :) :)

lightning is so wonderful in reminding us of the fact that the optimal ath isn't the straight line :)

Posted by ha! July 31, 09 04:26 PM

Here is one,
http://img187.imageshack.us/img187/2016/belgrade.jpg

Studio B building, Belgrade

Posted by mali pera July 31, 09 06:30 PM

Some years ago, a very large church in San Diego topped off their new building with a gold statue. No sooner than they had it up, lightening struck it (In San Diego!), and they had to take it down for repairs. They didn't find this nearly as amusing as I did.

Posted by H Hilborn August 1, 09 12:45 AM

Para Rafa q le gustar� ver rayos, para que sea Feliz. Buena estancia en Valencia

Posted by Angel Luis August 1, 09 05:36 AM

My favorite is 8. The light "involves" gently the tower.

Posted by Dalmazo August 1, 09 07:47 AM

Just awesome pictures!

Posted by Anonymous August 1, 09 10:39 AM

#23 was probably taken from the condominium beside my college! woww.

Posted by Lee Yong August 1, 09 11:38 AM

Nicely done, however as others have noted #18 has been manipulated too much, not with unsharp mask but likely using other sharpening techniques.

Posted by Glenn Kaupert August 1, 09 11:42 AM

What's with the phony "moon surface" sky in number 12? That's not a real life photo at all.

Posted by Zeke Krahlin August 1, 09 01:50 PM

#1 is in my hometown. Such a treat to see! Clean cut separation from downtown Athens to the clear sky and lightning...STUNNING! I simply love the way it lights up the picture! GREAT!

Posted by Katie August 1, 09 07:24 PM

#3 looks very dangerous

Posted by luxxe August 2, 09 06:20 AM

"What's with the phony "moon surface" sky in number 12? That's not a real life photo at all"

Think this are water droplets on the outside of the camera lens, or the water resistant camera container. Only slighty a bit out of focus because of the shallow depth of field from the wide open lens.

Posted by Stephen August 2, 09 12:37 PM

The picturs ae just beautiful. god sure works miracles in nature. Lee

Posted by Lee August 2, 09 03:17 PM

Trying to harness that power of nature, has been on scientists minds for many years now. The fact remains that electricity cannot be contained. It has to be generated and given off. Even if you would tie all of the submarine batteries in the world together... a lightning strike will fry all of them.

Kinda strange to think that without lightning, live in earth wouldn't be possible.

Posted by TechNAB76 August 3, 09 01:53 AM

scary things!..this is the only creation of God that makes me scary so much.

Posted by warrior August 3, 09 06:28 AM

The set poster #34 linked to is really cool. What's the chances of two people taking a picture of the same lightning bolt? Has to be astronomical!

I agree with the consensus on #18 - photoshop was involved. Hopefully just in sharpening, but as soon as I looked it, my brain screamed "Fake! Aeeeiiyyyiii".

Anyone know why the buildings in Bankok in #14 are so blue tinted? Do we think that's just an effect of the lighting from the storm?

Posted by Dave August 3, 09 01:04 PM

omg what a cool pics

Posted by sander August 3, 09 04:04 PM

I don't have time to read all the comments but I saw no references to our
massive debt to lightning. We owe our existence to beautiful but dangerous
lightning! Every bolt creates from hundreds to thousands of pounds of nitrous
oxide which filters down and makes ALL agriculture possible. And that makes
you and me and these pics possible. Where are the Lightning Worshippers?

Posted by Bob Clithero August 3, 09 04:38 PM

Too much ! A bright example of ''augmented reality'' made possible by Photoshop...

Posted by J Bilodeau August 3, 09 10:25 PM

Beautiful. Her's lightning over the Marine Corps Memorial (Iwo Jima flag raising) near DC.

http://www.flickr.com/photos/wallacefamily/3767375095/sizes/l/
http://www.flickr.com/photos/wallacefamily/3768174428/sizes/l/in/set-72157621755011963/

Posted by Steve W August 3, 09 11:47 PM

Fantastic pictures!!! Thank you for sharing.

Posted by Debbie August 4, 09 02:08 AM

Great pic

Posted by editorial commercial photography singapore August 4, 09 05:05 AM

Photo #1: "1.21 gigawatts!!!"

Posted by Will August 4, 09 07:03 AM

These were all taken outside of Richmond, VA. There are several in this set. This is a link to one. http://www.flickr.com/photos/aujm/3663888077/in/set-72157606340808343/

Posted by JMorris August 4, 09 01:42 PM

#2 = Metal

Posted by tom August 4, 09 01:46 PM

#5, #18 and #26 - WOW

Posted by Richard August 4, 09 06:04 PM

Behind my house, Summer 08
http://picasaweb.google.com/bo.kohut/RiverWeather#

I have this one framed:
http://picasaweb.google.com/bo.kohut/RiverWeather#5226068566370437954

Posted by Bo Kohut August 5, 09 12:42 AM

A M A Z I N G

Posted by Jean Paul August 5, 09 03:32 PM

Thank you! You often write very interesting articles. You improved my mood.

Posted by Brown August 6, 09 01:20 PM

In truth, immediately i didn't understand the essence. But after re-reading all at once became clear.

Posted by Ventego August 8, 09 07:29 AM

amazing pictures though frighting

Posted by camilleri alfred August 9, 09 06:26 AM

Amazing! I loved how you picked pictures of lightning from all over the world! thanks!

Posted by Miguel August 9, 09 01:11 PM

Yes, I met such big lightnings on I -70 at KS.

Posted by a japanese August 10, 09 08:37 PM

downtown Miami
http://www.iocphoto.com/#a=0&at=0&mi=2&pt=1&pi=10000&s=4&p=0

Posted by Ian August 10, 09 09:20 PM

Absolutely stunning collection!!

This deserves a mention in this context:
http://wvs.topleftpixel.com/09/08/10/

Seems like there were a ton of thunderstorms around the world lately!

Posted by Vinu August 11, 09 04:19 PM

Aguanteee Uruguay Montevideoooooooooooo!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Posted by tomm August 12, 09 12:47 AM

lightening shots ftw ! :D

Posted by MiddleChild August 12, 09 06:53 AM

Espetacular!

Posted by Branca Stuart August 12, 09 01:21 PM

very very fantastic.

Posted by dhanraj August 13, 09 09:08 AM

Absolutely gorgeous!!

Posted by JG August 14, 09 12:52 PM

Espetacular . Very fantastic.

Posted by Elizabete Mattos August 14, 09 04:22 PM

nossa!!!!!!! � muito espetacular!!!! um momento unico!!!!!

Posted by erika August 15, 09 08:53 PM

Wow

Posted by deamank August 17, 09 11:28 AM

fotos incriveis

Posted by fernando August 18, 09 08:47 AM

The first and last pictures are incredible! Wow, good job. 18 is amazing too (partly because it's a county from where I live)!

Posted by Verda August 20, 09 10:16 AM

wow wow wow wow...amazing

Posted by anand August 20, 09 02:34 PM

Great shots of these marvellous weather events; we are seeing much more lightning in my country than before...

Posted by Gonzalo Sepulveda Estay (Chile) August 21, 09 11:13 AM

How could something so beautiful be so deadly

Posted by Brad (MrLucky) August 22, 09 03:46 PM

Amazing! I like lighting!

Shanghai, 2009.8.27

http://www.flickr.com/photos/gropius/3861158109/sizes/o/

Posted by gropius August 27, 09 07:32 AM

very gooddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddd

Posted by tanveer hussain August 31, 09 02:21 PM

Ulitmate!!

Posted by Sandeep Singare September 5, 09 01:48 AM

Realy nice!!!

Posted by Mr j skagern September 5, 09 02:53 PM

Realy nice!!!!

Posted by Mr j skagern September 5, 09 02:55 PM

In Texas we get quite a few ops each year for storms like this - these rolled through on 9/3 http://www.flickr.com/photos/wallacefamily/3885469273/in/set-72157622234156266/

Enjoy!

Posted by Steve W September 5, 09 10:41 PM

wow!!!!!!!!!

Posted by Anonymous September 6, 09 01:04 PM

wow its look nice i like lighting at night it look like the sky will be cutin in half !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Posted by yasser ayman opt 2 October 5, 09 01:45 PM

wow!!!!!

Posted by cynthia October 29, 09 09:33 AM