Lightning Zaps Minivan & "TBF Chris"
This is one of the most amazing video clips I've seen:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lUUOdO6eEZA
Nobody was hurt. This is a classic "Faraday Cage" effect demonstrated in real life. This should be some pretty compelling evidence to stay inside your vehicle with any threat of lightning around. As stormchasers, this is in reality the most hazardous part of our "hobby"...aside from critter collisions, idiot drivers, or irate/psychotic members of the "stormchasing community". ;-) After a very close call with a CG bolt this past year on May 1, I'm going to be acquiring a couple of window camera mounts and point my lenses at the fury of mother nature from within the safety of my vehicle.
As far as the "Tropical Bird Fart" formerly known as TS Chris, it just nearly became a hurricane only to dissipate into a gentle tropical breeze. The models for the most part were actually pretty accurate in the long run in showing it completely dissipating. Now, not even the remnants are discernable now...not even an area of slightly lower pressures or wind direction difflections. Nada. It has ceased to be. I think in addition to the shear, Chris suffered mostly from the northern hemispheric "dry air curse" that plagued most of the 2006 severe storm season.
However, the season is still young and interestingly, the "official season forecast" for a busy hurricane season has been downgraded significantly now to only 7 hurricanes (down from 9) with only 15 named storms (down from 17). Good news of course for all of the US coastal regions under seige since 2004. They could use a long respite. But, with September being the climatological peak for tropical activity, we have a ways to go.
In the meantime, yet another rain event across Northern Texas yesterday managed once again to soak the same exact areas again and totally avoid my withering yard. This is like the 10th event to do so in a row. For my neighbors in SE Collin County, about 15-20 miles away, this is the 10th time in a row they've gotten relatively significant rains. If bookies took bets on rainfall for my yard, I'd be at about 100 to 1 odds right now. ;-) Today is looking like an even better chance for the entire region....but I fear once aagain I will watch the precipitation on radar dance, contort and even "bend" around the little red cross mark on radar that is my house. I'm cursed. the last significant rain I've received at my house was the middle part of March with a couple of inches. I think I may have gotten a grand total of one inch since then.
If this keeps up, I'll have to convert my yard to an "El Paso" yard...full of decorative rocks and gravel with a variety of desert cactii. Speaking of which, the El Paso area recently got deluged with 6-8 inches of rain in a few days causing severe flooding and even mudslides. That's about as much rain as they see all year long. So, there's hope for me yet. LOL!!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lUUOdO6eEZA
Nobody was hurt. This is a classic "Faraday Cage" effect demonstrated in real life. This should be some pretty compelling evidence to stay inside your vehicle with any threat of lightning around. As stormchasers, this is in reality the most hazardous part of our "hobby"...aside from critter collisions, idiot drivers, or irate/psychotic members of the "stormchasing community". ;-) After a very close call with a CG bolt this past year on May 1, I'm going to be acquiring a couple of window camera mounts and point my lenses at the fury of mother nature from within the safety of my vehicle.
As far as the "Tropical Bird Fart" formerly known as TS Chris, it just nearly became a hurricane only to dissipate into a gentle tropical breeze. The models for the most part were actually pretty accurate in the long run in showing it completely dissipating. Now, not even the remnants are discernable now...not even an area of slightly lower pressures or wind direction difflections. Nada. It has ceased to be. I think in addition to the shear, Chris suffered mostly from the northern hemispheric "dry air curse" that plagued most of the 2006 severe storm season.
However, the season is still young and interestingly, the "official season forecast" for a busy hurricane season has been downgraded significantly now to only 7 hurricanes (down from 9) with only 15 named storms (down from 17). Good news of course for all of the US coastal regions under seige since 2004. They could use a long respite. But, with September being the climatological peak for tropical activity, we have a ways to go.
In the meantime, yet another rain event across Northern Texas yesterday managed once again to soak the same exact areas again and totally avoid my withering yard. This is like the 10th event to do so in a row. For my neighbors in SE Collin County, about 15-20 miles away, this is the 10th time in a row they've gotten relatively significant rains. If bookies took bets on rainfall for my yard, I'd be at about 100 to 1 odds right now. ;-) Today is looking like an even better chance for the entire region....but I fear once aagain I will watch the precipitation on radar dance, contort and even "bend" around the little red cross mark on radar that is my house. I'm cursed. the last significant rain I've received at my house was the middle part of March with a couple of inches. I think I may have gotten a grand total of one inch since then.
If this keeps up, I'll have to convert my yard to an "El Paso" yard...full of decorative rocks and gravel with a variety of desert cactii. Speaking of which, the El Paso area recently got deluged with 6-8 inches of rain in a few days causing severe flooding and even mudslides. That's about as much rain as they see all year long. So, there's hope for me yet. LOL!!
posted by Steve Miller TX at 8/07/2006 11:32:00 AM
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