Storms and Convective discussion - May 2024

[Lauren]

Pretty much a bust here. Saw some flashes and rumbles but it went either side of me by quite a margin 

[Lu.]

Must admit the storm seemed to of gotten stronger heading home around 3.30am

Biblical rain & the noise was something else.

No photos this time tho, even hanging out my boot I couldn’t shield from the rain. 

[ChannelThunder]

 Alderc 2.0 I got one rumble and some flashes, recorded 12mm of rain. Glad I went to sleep about half 11 in the end! 

[weatherobsuk]

A 7hr round trip and i'm finally back home after having a scenic tour of the Chilterns from Bicester, Oxford, and Benson. There was some close strikes at times during the early morning hours at 4am but the convective line frustratingly refused to move anymore northwards and I wasn't up for heading further south knowing it would take longer getting back. So with the twilight chorus and skies getting lighter I called it a night and headed back along the never-ending M40. 

Here's hoping early morning Friday delivers for the East and North Midlands

[Jo Farrow]

For those who did sleep, or live further north

[Summer tyre]

Wow. Do we have a total strike count yet please, @Jo Farrow? I have just counted 63 visible flashes in the 93 second video I posted last night!

Edited May 2 by Summer tyre

[Jasper Foxx]

Went to bed not expecting much as the storms over France seemed to be making a beeline for the south east. How wrong I was!

I was woken up at 3:45am to the thunder approaching from the southeast and by 4am, it had tripped my power. Really good storm though, 3/4 strikes a minute and lots of rain. Had visibility on it for around 45 mins before I went back to bed.

[Jo Farrow]

I think it is the 8718 in 24 hours/this month

3647 today, 2nd May

[Lu.]

 ChannelThunder That is quite something considering your really not that far from me (at the time I was miles away) but my Brothers partner said it’s the biggest one she’s sat & listened too - they are Portsmouth. 

[ChannelThunder]

 Lu. Yeah, in the end I was right to say (about 24 hours ago) that I thought I'd be on the edge of things and likely just have the rain!

Gotta say, this was a big 'win' for the UKV model. It was close to the mark with this on many runs. Even as far back as Saturday it showed this event affecting the southeast, whereas the Euro wanted to send it up the North Sea!

[Eagle Eye]

Convective Outlook️ 

During the afternoon, a convergence line will form within the SLGHT zone forcing intense showers & thunderstorms to develop. Instability is transferred to this area from the early hours intense storms, with cape sitting around 500-1000J/KG.

 

In the late afternoon/ early evening, thunderstorms should start firing up bringing frequent lightning, hail & intense rainfall.  

 

We are slightly unsure how todays line of storms will form and how much lightning there will be, however if these storms do form, they can bring frequent lightning.

Edited May 2 by Eagle Eye

[Windblade]

Woken up at 2am with a bang. Looked out the window and saw the rooftops/trees lighting up reflecting lightning but couldn't see the actual lightning although it was incredibly frequent, like every few seconds but curiously there weren't many rumbles after that and the ones that I did hear were not that loud and I could hear it moving away slowly after that getting quieter. No rain either. Then about 5am we had some more but again the same kind of distant lightning that you can't see the source. My guess was that the storms just skimmed us and looking on the radar images indeed that was the case. Still, nice to get off the ground properly with a night time storm - especially so early in the season. I just hope the next one comes a bit closer! Incredible night for some looking in the thread though. Now, when's the next event? 

Edited May 2 by Windblade

[Storm_Sikher]

A nice send off around 1:30AM this morning before I go to the U.S tomorrow, storm chasing for 6 weeks.
Gravesend, Kent.

[weatherobsuk]

This early morning's efforts from the phone  at least two before the low-cloud and murk rolled in just as things were getting interesting. Under those clear skies above it was constant flickering for a time, especially noticeable when averting my vision just off-center. There was also a Sprite seen visually between some ACCAS which caught me off guard but just for seeing that alone the trip was worth it. The whole thing happened quicker than my brain could register what I was looking (like electric finger-ripples shooting upwards) and then it was gone, followed by a positive CG strike that lit the whole part of that sky.

 

 

Edited May 2 by weatherobsuk

[Marcus_surfer]

Great pics and videos ! Nice to see storm season kicking off early! We have had nearly 24 hours of constant rain here in south wales.

[Windblade]

 Eagle Eye That was most of my experience last night as well. Mostly silent storm!

[Eagle Eye]

And I can finally rest after a busy few days. Hope everyone liked the new integration of the day 2 and day 3 outlooks

Very good storm and also good verification of the risk. Definetely worth the long breakdown. 

 

[Rush2019]

 weatherobsuk   Pleased you your efforts paid off, glad you got back to the NW safe and sound.

[ChannelThunder]

 Eagle Eye well done Eagle. See you for the next one, which will affect both Kent and IOW a bit more

(Positive thinking)

Edited May 2 by ChannelThunder

[weatherobsuk]

 Rush2019  I'm tempted to head out for tomorrow morning's potential  but it depends on timings as I wouldn't want to be going as far as Newark-on-Trent if the sun is already up by the time any potential cells get there. Off to catch up on some well deserved sleep, dream of motorways, and see what the afternoon/evening models are predicting for later on.

[Supacell]

A very active night of thunderstorms for southern parts, I was definitely happy I headed south to be a part of it.

My evening started with confusion as I sat near to Maidstone in Kent. Most of the models were pinpointing Kent as a sweet spot but an MCS moving northwestwards from France looked likely to hit further west. After much pondering I decided to head south towards Hastings as opposed to the Kent coast. On reaching Hastings I could see distance flashes to the south, but if the flashes were to the south (and not south east) then I assumed they were going to miss Hastings and so headed westwards to end up settling in Eastbourne.

From here I got to see a great show. There was little in the way of CG or IC lightning (although there was some) but lots and lots of strobe lightning out to sea and eventually right over the town. I did not capture any of the CG's I saw, and most of the IC's were directly overhead high up in the clouds. The lightning was accompanied by a constant elevated rumble of thunder along with the odd louder crash mixed in. It reminded me a bit of the Worthing storm last year in terms of lightning frequency and thunder, but did not match up to that storm in terms of wind and rain, although there was some heavy rain for a time. EDIT: Forgot to mention, some good cloud structure on the incoming storm too, which was easy to see with the very frequent lightning flashes.

After staying in Eastbourne for probably and hour to 90 minutes I headed west further as lightning flashed to my west and south. I could see another storm was moving in from the Channel and looked likely to hit Brighton, and so I stopped as the storm moved close by. This one did not come overhead, it actually hit closer to Worthing I think, but was again producing a lot of lightning, and this time I could see and capture some of the IC's too as I had that bit of distance. As I was driving between the two places there was a period whereby I was in fog but with lightning flashing amongst it. An eerie experience that I have not witnessed often. 

As the storms rumbled away to the northwest I decided to start the journey back home. It was just after half 2 by this point and my sat nav expected me home by just before 6am. I would not end up making this as I was greeted on the way back by another thunderstorm, which was part of a line of storms that had developed and were moving from around Essex, through London and just north of the M4 corridor. I actually caught them near to the M25/M40 junction but was unable to find anywhere to stop and so just drove through them. The lightning in these storms was less frequent but I did see (not capture) a close CG and heard a huge bang of thunder. The rain was also absolutely torrential and had caused quite a lot of big puddles on the roads, making it rather hazardous to drive in.

This was still not the end of it. As I continued my journey around the M25 I noticed more cells moving through London, this time a bit further north and these were also likely to hit me. I was able to get onto one moving into Watford. By now it was getting light but the lightning was still very visible, just the white/blue flashes were now replaced by bright pink flashes. This storm did not have as much lightning as the others, the energy appeared to be diminishing, but it did have some quite gusty winds on it as it moved through.

I am home now and ready for some sleep! All in all it was an enjoyable night of storm chasing. It was the kind of storm chase I like, where the storms are not hard to find. There was so much activity last night that I nearly ran down two batteries on my camcorder! A great start to the season.

Edited May 2 by Supacell

[Sprites]

 Southern Storm  

Great shot

Was this in Elmer West Sussex? A house got stuck there. 

 

UK weather: Trains delayed and care home hit by lightning after overnight thunderstorms

NEWS.SKY.COM

---

Overnight a care home in West Sussex was hit by a lightning strike and a university building in Chichester sustained damage to its roof and power system.

 

Edited May 2 by Sprites

[*Stormforce~beka*]

 weatherobsuk I'm going back to bed soon too! Happy sleeping x

[GSP]

Went to bed around 1am with some potent little storms trundling their way east to west up the Estuary.

Then the next thing it was around 3.30-4am and the real show started with frequent lightning, though we didn’t get any close boomers that can force their way into your chest as you lie there.

Of real note however was the noise and intensity of the rain. Thank goodness that did not last too long, it felt like it would do damage and I will be checking the loft later for starters.

[Atmogenic]

We did have lightning here in Ashford, quite frequent too but I didn't do any recording as it was just flashes with no thunder and didn't see any actual bolts