Thunderstorms

Hal1

Ah right, I taught maybe it was in the category of tornado spawning cloud types. Highdef, did you upload your cap yet would like to see that m8.

highdef

Just uploading a vid onto youtube at the moment - low res but it'll do for now. Will do another video tomorrow. In the near future, I hope to upload footage of a severe thunderstorm that hit my area about 10 years ago at night time. I have some great footage of it.

highdef

Video is currently uploading. Nothing extra special but still quite interesting. Hope to have it up in the next 5 mins or so. Comments would be very much appreciated, good or bad. As its Youtube, it'll be low resolution. I plan to upload a high res version onto www.stage6.com when I get time

highdef

Quality is crap for now but I will get a better version up soon. Enjoy, and any comments are most welcome
http://ie.youtube.com/watch?v=OQxlPB32bjo

Mothman

Still no phone, have briefly dropped into my brother's.
Thanks to Spankeh and Tristame for updates.

Yes it was one of those mile wide black clouds that sat over me for 5 mins that produced that whopper rain rate.

Started at 40mm/hr, and just got heavier and heavier.
There were friends on the road at the time and they had to slow right down with wipers of max speed.

Didn't get a direct overhead from thunderstorm. There was continuous rumbling from the cells towards Arklow and then there was a cell (the one that passed north of Longfield) that I thought was heading straight for me. In the end it passed just north but was dissapating at same time. Nearest lightening estimated to be 5 miles away.

Snowbie

highdef wrote:

Quality is crap for now but I will get a better version up soon. Enjoy, and any comments are most welcome
http://ie.youtube.com/watch?v=OQxlPB32bjo

Good stuff hd,convection being loss there in forming due to early evening.
Exactly what i saw out my window,the sun was spectacular off it.

A time lapse earlier in the day who have shown a cumulus bloomin into a CB.I watched one of these in the distance(west)that went over wicklow eventually.Exploded into life in about and 1hr and a half.

Danno

What a day yesterday... lightning strook something in the town centre causing traffic diversions around 3.30pm.

Also later travelling along the N8 between Cullohill and Durrow I noticed a funnel cloud forming from a shelf cloud at 6pm-ish.

Pity I didnt have my phone...

highdef

Thanks Snowbie. That video is the later one. I will upload the earlier one later on. Not very impressive though. While changing tapes, I saw a funnel drop from the cloud with good rotation but was gone by the time I got the tape rolling. Feckin typical

Snowbie

Continue to post here in the event of all things thunderstorm related,wheather it be radar,maps,charts,forecasts or just simple discussions.

Weather pics(clouds,lightning) in attachments only are allowed here otherwise use [thread=2055050139]Weather pics 2007[/thread] for your snaps.

Over the months you will find some variables or terms describing suitability of storms which are:
CAPE - This is the amount of potential energy in the atmosphere. High CAPE will indicate a high chance of thunderstorms.
LI - Lifted Index (LI) displays the 'trigger' potential at the surface to initiate unstable conditions. A low or negative LI will indicate conditions for thunderstorms are favourable.
Cb-Cumulonimbus or thundercloud.
Anvil-Where the top of the Cb reaches the stratosphere and spreads out like a flat top.
Cell or Supercell-An individual storm or a violent storm.
Squall line-Multi cellular organised storms forming in a line usually ahead or parallel to cold fronts.
Embedded Storms-Storms that are contained in overcast conditions
Convection-Warm air rising,cools,condenses forming cumuli clouds.
Orographic lift-Low level winds are forced to rise against rising terrain ie:mountains.Prevailing wind on a hot summers day,this lift can produce rapid convection.
Convergence zone-usually refers to a region in the atmosphere where two prevailing winds meet and interact, usually resulting in turbulent weather.
Lapse rate steepeing-is another fancy term for instability.
Sferics-Sound of low-frequency radio signals that derive from lightning strikes.Common terms would be strikes or strokes.

Some useful links

http://www.irelandlivelightning.info

http://www.gyweather.com/

http://www.isleofwightweather.co.uk/live_storm_data_sound.htm

http://www.wetterzentrale.de/pics/Rsfloc.html

Estofex

http://www.blitzortung.org/index.php?mode=0&map=5&lang=e

http://www.nowcast.co.uk/lightning/

http://meteocentre.com/lightning/map_sfuk.php?time=0&lang=en&map=Europe

http://www.estofex.org/guide/

If anyone has any more feel free to post them.

Snowbie

A chance of storms developing on sunday next yet again although gfs has just kept the threat to the UK for the minute as exports from France is the threat there.To turn warm and humid by the weekend and with a another occluded front to cross the country from the SW dragging up warm humid southerlies ahead of it.Long way off atm but the airmass looks to originate over bay of biscay and could get sparky again.50/50 atm.

darkman2

There is a chance of some thunderstorms in the East tomorrow evening though id say it will probrably be more heavy general rain.

rc28

darkman2 wrote:

There is a chance of some thunderstorms in the East tomorrow evening though id say it will probrably be more heavy general rain.

Estofex give a short mention of the risk for tomorrow
http://estofex.org/cgi-bin/polygon/showforecast.cgi?text=yes&fcstfile=2007071406_200707121642_2_stormforecast.xml

fatherdougalmag

Words of wisdom in this RTE report. Although, I question their spelling of lightening (sic.).

Edit: They corrected the spelling

darkman2

A better chance of storms tomorrow with the midlands, as usual, most at risk along with the North East. Could be storms elsewhere too. Offshore wind for the East.

Snowbie

More of a widespread chance on Monday.Cape into the mid 500.

darkman2

Yes Monday looks interesting but its a distance off atm in terms of forcasting storms. The setup for the East is knife edge as it is. LP slightly further south then we have an East wind and we will be north of the convergence zone which would favour areas in the South and Southwest and leave us essentially dry and sunny:rolleyes: 12z is good for us though as the wind is offshore AND we are in the convergence zone but only just!

Hal1

Some sferics popping up around the midlands now, and one over dublin.

Sky looks like a weaker version of last sunday here in south wicklow now.
Cb's a plenty and showers all around.
No thunder heard but the rain is all around,it's just not falling here yet.
Soon though probably.

darkman2

Clearly rain is approaching here but not sure if it will be thundery. Decent cells in the NE of Ireland though....

rc28

It's been dry here all day up to now as a very dark sky is approaching from the sw and some pretty big drops are falling are falling now.

darkman2

As regards prospects for Mondays storms as I was saying yesterday the midlands and Noth most likely to be affected but its knife edge for the East. If this is the wind direction on Monday the East will more then likely be mainly dry while further west gets drenched. http://www.wetterzentrale.de/pics/Rtavn548.png

Snowbie

52.8mm/hr max rain rate in a good downpour dropping 6 mm of rain but no thunder.

billy the squid

Had a rumble of thunder here about half five, there is also some flash flooding in parts of the city.

All more or less missed here thankfully,the land is in soup enough.

squonk

Had a decent downpour here in Skerries about 4 this afternoon. Bit under the weather so had retreated to the leaba but the thunder woke me up. Saw one of two good flashes and we had about 3 rumbles. Very heavy rain as well. Pretty impressive.

Wertz

Looks to have been threatening in N Louth all day, but all we managed was a quick heavy shower around 1pm. Sky is very dark to my NW right now, and a lot of intense echoes the far side of Newry but forcefield remains operative...

gonker

LOL at Wertz. We had a massive clap of thunder here in Drogheda about 5:30ish. It seemed to go on for ages really really loud. Very heavy rain though. Its lovely out now:D

I can already see masses and masses of building cb's in a train from Mt Leinster right to the coast through the south wicklow mts.

We have the sun here and some heat energy so this could be a very interesting day.

Theres also a noticeable shelf running along the cb train visible in a curve for 30 miles or more hooking to the coast at either end and inland on a long curve underneath and in front of the cb train.

I heard the 755 am radio one forecast this morning and they were ramping up todays storms.
It wasn't that they said heavy showers with thunder,they said thunderstorms.

They also mentioned that most of the lightning strikes would be over munster and leinster:eek:
Looking at that sky out there,I'd be surprised if it wasnt banging by mid afternoon (somewhere).

rc28

Yes tristrame, it's nice to see them mention the word "thunderstorms" rather than just the usual "thundery showers".
It's on the main page;http://www.met.ie/#

Snowbie

@Tristrame all i see is towers towers and more towers dotted around.Convection is good today,cape in mid 600s and lift very negative at -3.
Ingredients are there,cape should be tapped into and somewhere by mid afternoon should get a couple of rumbles and well into the evening could be more interesting.