Convective/Thunderstorm Discussion: Autumn/Winter 2016-17

Meteorite58

Some Thundery showers perhaps in the NW, W tomorrow evening.

Bsal

Good discussion about what may have happened with the Aberystwyth storm

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WtAGIPhwd9Q

Meteorite58

Shetland down to the Outer Hebrides and far NW of Ireland where convective depth may just be sufficient for sporadic lightning.

kittyn

DOC did I just hear thunder up our way??

DOCARCH

Lightning and thunder in Dublin 16....with graupel!!!

DOCARCH

kittyn wrote: »

DOC did I just hear thunder up our way??

Yip.

kittyn

DOCARCH wrote: »

Yip.

Glad I'm not loosing it altogether lol

Makapakka

Any models?

Trebor176

I'm in Dublin 22. I didn't hear a thing!

dublinbusdude

Same here up in Tallaght

Rougies

DOCARCH wrote: »

Lightning and thunder in Dublin 16....with graupel!!!

I have fond memories of thunder graupel at the end of November in the not so distant past. Hopefully the pattern repeats itself!

Heighway61

Any of the radars pick this up? Blitzortung, NetWeather (UKMO) or Microsferics haven't.

lolie

Programme on bbc4 now called
Lightning: Dangerous Earth.
Not sure if it's a repeat but looks good.

Meteorite58

Met Eireann mentioning risk of an isolated thunderstorm tonight with some heavy falls of rain in Southern counties. Low chance I would imagine.

Meteorite58

Met Eireann mentioning possibility of a few Thundery showers this evening, bit of activity off the NW this evening, a few look possible tomorrow also I would think and maybe after the fronts go through on Fri.

Totofan99

A few nice flashes and long rumbles right now in east Galway.

I love night time thunderstorms.

fraxinus1

Frequent lightning here on the coast now in North Sligo. Rumbles in the distance.

Oneiric 3

Awoken by a huge rap of thunder bout half hour ago. Some quite frequent big blue lightning and thunder in the meantime but seems to have eased up. Nice as was not expecting it.

Pangea

Thunder and Lightining here in Donegal now

Tazio

Flashes off coast of Kinsale too just now.
07:16h

Pangea

Just witnessed a spectacular thunder storm here in SW Donegal. Amazing lightning bolts and the power of the hailstones was incredible, but the downside is I now have no power!

Donegal Storm

No thunder further north in NW Donegal but some nice big hail showers all day, getting very stormy as they pass through

Meteorite58

Pangea wrote: »

Just witnessed a spectacular thunder storm here in SW Donegal. Amazing lightning bolts and the power of the hailstones was incredible, but the downside is I now have no power!

There's a record of today's strikes in SW Donegal.

Meteorite58

Today's Lightning so far ( that was detected ).

Oneiric 3

While watching the storm last night, I noticed, and I have noticed more than once during winter thunder, that the sound of the thunder in winter seems to differ somewhat from that of summer thunder. Whether it is down to perception I don't know, but the thunder last night had that distinctive lower bass, growlier and almost 'sinister' quality about, even when initiated from relatively nearby strikes. Summer thunder on the other hand seems to have a higher, sharper and more 'crackly' tone. Maybe it is something to do with cloud height or something, as they do differ between both seasons. Or maybe it me that is just mad.

pedigree 6

Oneiric 3 wrote: »

While watching the storm last night, I noticed, and I have noticed more than once during winter thunder, that the sound of the thunder in winter seems to differ somewhat from that of summer thunder. Whether it is down to perception I don't know, but the thunder last night had that distinctive lower bass, growlier and almost 'sinister' quality about, even when initiated from relatively nearby strikes. Summer thunder on the other hand seems to have a higher, sharper and more 'crackly' tone. Maybe it is something to do with cloud height or something, as they do differ between both seasons. Or maybe it me that is just mad.

You're dead right there is a difference. You're not mad.:D
This link can explain it better than I can.
https://www.ec.gc.ca/foudre-lightning/default.asp?lang=En&n=4EFD3A52-1

It's great that you could tell the difference.:)

Hooter23

Very squally showers passing through Galway

Oneiric 3

pedigree 6 wrote: »

You're dead right there is a difference. You're not mad.:D
This link can explain it better than I can.
https://www.ec.gc.ca/foudre-lightning/default.asp?lang=En&n=4EFD3A52-1

It's great that you could tell the difference.:)

Thanks for the Pedigree 6! very interesting read - explains nicely that I may not be as mad as I first thought. :cool:

It's all in the frequencies it would seem and how high and low sounds travel across distance. I have heard before that certain animals on the African continent (usually herbivores) have such a sensitive hearing that they can pick up on the lower frequencies of a rumble of thunder from a storm over 100 miles away, which also prompts them to navigate to where the rains are falling. Not sure how true this is though.

One interesting factoid (one that I actually know!) is that the thunder we hear during 'thundersnow' may only be heard within a 1 to 2 mile range of where the lightning strike occurred. This is because snow, especially falling snow, which often contains a high percentage of air pockets within each flake, is a great insulator of sound.

pedigree 6

Oneiric 3 wrote: »

Thanks for the Pedigree 6! very interesting read - explains nicely that I may not be as mad as I first thought. :cool:

It's all in the frequencies it would seem and how high and low sounds travel across distance. I have heard before that certain animals on the African continent (usually herbivores) have such a sensitive hearing that they can pick up on the lower frequencies of a rumble of thunder from a storm over 100 miles away, which also prompts them to navigate to where the rains are falling. Not sure how true this is though.

One interesting factoid (one that I actually know!) is that the thunder we hear during 'thundersnow' may only be heard within a 1 to 2 mile range of where the lightning strike occurred. This is because snow, especially falling snow, which often contains a high percentage of air pockets within each flake, is a great insulator of sound.

Yea basically the thunder sounds sharper in warm weather and low rumblier in cold weather (or night).

On the snow i'd imagine it has to do with the increase in surface area in objects (each snowflake has a large surface area) that can absorb sound waves as well?
Kind of like a recording studio with the pyramid shapes on the walls (to deaden/absorb the sound i.e by increasing the surface area of the walls and to deflect the sound in a multitude of different directions at once).
Plus I suppose like in the sea, sound travels through water instead of deflecting it like a hard rock or wall and then as well as you say the air bubbles in snow so trapping it enough.

If you can make sense of that you're doing well.

Iancar29

An interesting night at the Hill of Tara ,Meath hunting for Aurora. Instead of seeing that we saw multiple flashes on the horizon from the storms on the north coast . One faint one even resembled a sprite as it went straight up like a pillar. Could possibly be my first ever time seeing that rare form of lightning .