May 28, 2018 Thunderstorms

Grand Rapids, Minnesota

I cannot remember the details on whether or not these storms were severe (I don't think there were any warnings close to Grand Rapids), but a rare lightning opportunity presented itself in the form of thunderstorms training (repeatedly moving over the same area) just a few miles south of town.  There was one good spot on the north end of Pokegama Lake with a good view to the south, and that's where I eventually went to do some lightning photography.

I initially set up at Pokegama Golf Course, but I decided I was getting too wet, and I wasn't comfortable with the potential exposure I had to a lightning strike.  With more cells moving in, I tried another location with a view to the west.  I arrived at King's Landing to find a guy fishing on the dock, and he did not seem very comfortable with my presence.  I also was not having luck as almost all of the lighting at that time was intracloud. The fisherman and I both agreed that Tioga Beach would be a good place to shoot.  There are a couple picnic shelters there, which can keep the camera dry as long as there isn't too much wind.

When I arrived there, some anvil crawler lightning (bolts along the cloud base) started, and there were also a few distant cloud to ground strokes.  I set up the camera and let it take a long exposure shot every 20 seconds or so. I adjusted my aperture and ISO settings according to the brightness of the lightning flashes.  Below are the best strokes I captured.

Here's the best shot of the evening.  This pretty much defines the term "anvil crawler". Lightning is along the cloud base.

A cloud to ground bolt a few miles away.

An anvil crawler with a cloud to ground bolt.

Another anvil crawler connected to a cloud-to-ground bolt.

This might be a traditional negative polarity cloud to ground stroke.

Triple cloud to ground bolts.

Here's the closest and most dramatic cloud to ground bolt.  Too bad it was so far on the left side of the image.

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