Big Storms in NI

[cavy-cool-crazy]

Wow, we've had an eventful few hours! First I saw the lightening, then the angry clouds, then more lightening and thunder, and then the torrential rain and hail that flooded our back yard. It was incredible, I have never seen anything like it, let alone in the middle of July - supposedly the height of summer! I would be very surprised if some mini-tornadoes don't come out of that storm as it travels further, the clouds were swirling and the hailstones were pretty big. There was a landslide on the Antrim coast, and it took my dad an hour to travel 4 miles.

I got some fantastic photos, am just uploading them now. There are still storms coming over so it may be a while before I can post them!

 

[cavy-cool-crazy]

Before the rain arrived:

The Puddle at 4pm:

The Puddle at 4.30pm:

 

[cavy-cool-crazy]

The hail (hope you can see the stones on the grass):

An adventurous plane heading right into the storm:

And some really weird skies!

 

[envisionary333]

That looks pretty intense! We've had a lot of rain and thunderstorms over here in Rochester, but not that bad. I'm not used to it since I'm from Seattle, which happens to be the mild-weather capital of the US as far as I'm concerned. If there is lightning, try using a camera and hold the shutter open with a "Bulb" or "Time" setting so you can capture it on film.

On a side note, as a photographer I can tell you that storms provide some of the best photographic light possible if caught at the right time. During some storms you will have a dramatic, dark blue sky with clouds building up, but sunshine still coming in from the other side just before the storm hits. This is phenomenal light- the kind of scene you have to stop your car for to jump out and take some photos. Photographers live for that type of lighting... That, and the ten minutes before and after a sunset or sunrise, of course.

(Please excuse my off-topic rambling...)

 

[Jenni_Feathers]

I love storms well sorta, they are sorta a pain though cause we always bring the horses and goats in when it storms and we sometimes get wet. They also get scary and dangerours here in Missouri cause of Tornados and we cant hear the sirens where I live so we have to keep an eye out on the sky. Im not a photographer but I love to take pictures of nature and animals and of course weather.

 

[JarBax]

Good grief Laura - that is bizarre weather indeed, I hope it has settled now, and you don't get more flooding. Fabulous photos too (I like the fourth one - where it looks like you left the tap running too long!) envisionary - I am glad I am not the only one to stop the car and take pictures of the sky!

There has been a lot of flooding in the UK recently - a precursor of things to come?

 

[TX_2_Pigs]

We have had a ton of flooding here too. We had 47 days straight with rain. We are up over 35 inches of rain so far this year. Last month, more rain fell in just the month than normally falls all year long.

Here are some pictures of the recent flooding. These were sent in to the local paper.

Reader photos: Heavy rains, flooding hit Central Texas | Photo Gallery | Statesman
Central Texas rain and flooding damage, 06.27.07 | Photo Gallery | Statesman

And it is raining again. :sad: